Steal My Heart
by LemonPuddingz
Summary: Mirage (Maya) Sekhar is the daughter of the drug lord Rajan. All her life she's been dedicated to the Klaww Gang, but everything changes when a certain thieving raccoon arrives in Paris, drawn by the very thing she's supposed to protect, bringing chaos and confusion with him. Sometimes you have to be who you want to be, not who you were raised to be. (Rated M just in case.)
1. Prologue

My father always said that I was like a mirage. One moment I was there the next I was gone, like an illusion, a trick of the eye. There was never a doubt in my mind that he was a caring man, at least when it came to me. He was as doting, protective and caring as an ordinary father would be of his daughter, but he was not an ordinary father. My father was barely ever around, and when he was I wasn't. After all, he was Rajan of the Klaww Gang. He never had time for much of anything. It was hard growing up when your father was a member of a world renowned crime ring. Even harder, was it, to stay out of that same sort of life of crime. And so, I became the runner for the organization that my father belonged to.

I was not an official member, but they found me useful when it came to protecting loot or keeping an eye on important matters. Not having ties in any one particular place and having a father willing to loan me out to help other members, I was the most mobile individual that they had at their disposal. I could be anywhere at any time, with nothing more important happening in my life than what the Klaww Gang had assigned to me. With the proper training all my life, I grew to be an excellent fighter, and even more excellent at thieving. I lived up to what my father had said of me, even to the point where others adopted the idea as my name and forgot my real name in the process.

My father had spent every moment that he had free with me making me the perfect heir for his operation. He wanted me to be successful, but he wanted it to be successful as well once he was gone. I got my demeanor from him. Minus the spice-induced rage I had his temper, and while I could be nice to the people I liked, if I didn't like you I was scary and I wasn't afraid to hurt you or knock you around within an inch of your life and those who met me quickly came to know it. On the other hand, I got my best qualities from my mother.

Her name was Savitri Sekhar, and, like my father, she grew up in the streets of Calcutta, but unlike him she came from a wealthy family. She died a few years after I was born, so I remember very little of her, if anything at all. My father told me that I inherited her lovely white fur and black stripes that have a purple shine in the sun. I also got her eyes, a sky blue, and her black hair. Actually, other than being a tiger, I inherited nothing physically from my father and even then I could have inherited that from her as well. We were all of the same general breed: tiger. Father said that I was the spitting image of my mom.

I remember her being a very kind and loving mother, and often others wondered how she had ended up with a criminal like my father. He always told me that they had met by the one kind deed he could ever remember doing in his life. Being from a rich family, it was sad to say that he, at first, saw my mother as sheltered and naïve. She had been walking down a busy street where he was selling spice and at the time he had only seen her in passing, her beautiful fur and expensive jewels catching his eye, and he thought that she would be worth robbing but never saving. Here she was, a beautiful young woman with all those riches and no obvious means of protecting herself. Of course she was asking for trouble.

He tells it like this:

"She was beautiful, but not so beautiful as the precious gems that hung from her ears and collar. Still, I had more important things to attend to. My spice business was just beginning to take off and I had no time to rob young women that day, as I was meeting an important buyer in that market and in a short time. I knew it was more than just her gems that had caught my eye, but I had to look at her the way that a thief did. She was nothing special, just another victim. A faceless body with jewels strung upon it waiting to be taken from an owner who probably had far too many of them. I would have forgotten her… if she hadn't turned my way and met my gaze. Her stunning blue eyes were too much to be forgotten and at that moment she was the first face I had ever truly seen on a person and I felt foolish for letting myself think such things. When she realized that she was staring, she broke eye contact and made a quick exit.

My day went on, my buyer came and went successfully, and a few of my individual buyers gave me quite a profit on the day, but still that woman would not leave my mind. I moved silently through the afternoon streets on my way back to my residence and hide-out when I heard a scream pierce the air. These things were not abnormal for this part of the city. There were rapes and killings nearly every night, with all of the criminal activity that happened in that area. Normally I wouldn't have so much as batted an eye at a scream like that, but my curiosity got the better of me and did the better for me, as I would later discover.

The sight that I set my eyes on actually sickened me. A group of monkeys had gotten a hold on someone and was beating them senseless while taking their possessions. It wasn't until they ran over to the river's edge to dump the body that I saw the one thing that I realized all too late I never wanted to see. The body that they had been beating and stripping of jewels had been none other than the beautiful white tiger I had seen at the market earlier that day. I chose not to confront them, but instead when they ran right after dumping her body into the Hooghly River, I ran to it and dove in to save her. At the time I didn't know why I had done it. I pulled her out of the water, her clothes were torn and she was badly beaten, but it was probably the only time in my life that I didn't look at a woman when given the chance. There was just something pure and divine about her and I didn't want to do anything that would dishonor that. Instead, I stole a blanket from a nearby market stall and wrapped her in it, doing the only thing I could think to do at the time and taking her back to my place. I didn't know who she was or where she lived, and so I did what I could.

It took her three days to wake up, all of which were spent under my inexperienced care, but when she did I felt relief. She introduced herself and thanked me, soon recognizing me as the man she had seen in the market. When she told me that she came from a high family, I told her that she should leave as soon as she felt well, that I would even escort her for her protection, but they were probably fearful for her. She left later that day, thanking me again for all I had done. Something about her warmed my heart, but I knew that I would never see her again so I let her memory go slowly.

Weeks passed and life returned to normal. I forgot about the tigeress with the beautiful white fur and blue eyes and continued developing my spice business. Not a thought of her passed my mind until the day that she herself came to me as a buyer. As it was, she was really there to see me and she had found herself having an insatiable curiosity when it came to who I was. She had seen me selling spice and in her best attempt to seem like an addict, she had talked to all of the local buyers, finally finding one who believed her in her lie, and he pointed her in my direction. I shooed her away. This was no place for a woman of her stature. She left discontented, but I thought that perhaps she would understand that I was making her leave for her protection.

After that day a week passed and then suddenly her appearances became persistent and even annoying on a larger scale. Some days I caught her staring at me from across the market, others I found that she would sit about right near the places that I met my buyers and after a while she seemed to know my route and locations as well as I did. Finally, when I could bear it no longer, I confronted her in an alleyway, trying my best to scare her, but failing as she knew that I had no intention of actually hurting her. She told me that she had fallen in love with me. I was her savior and without me she would have died. Not only that, but she found me handsome and somewhere in her heart she found a way to ignore what I did for a living, saying that someone who saved her could not be completely bad. As much as I wanted to be rid of the distraction there and then, I found myself captivated by her eyes again as she told me her truth and I finally placed the things I had been feeling in the category of attraction. She was beautiful, she was rich, and she didn't care where I had come from.

We courted for many years before she told her parents of me. She came out to them with the whole truth and told them what I was, but hoped that they would understand that she was in love and wanted to be with me no matter what kind of trouble I got into. They obviously disapproved, blaming me for her strange behavior those few years and saying that they would find her a proper husband, one who could support her and wouldn't put her life in danger, but she would hear nothing of it. She begged me to take her away, and I did. By then, she was the only person I thought I would ever love and being a criminal, I didn't mind stealing her away. I also knew that there was nothing left to say that would make her realize that I was not the one for her. If I insisted, then she insisted that I was because I realized that I had faults and I was willing to worry for her because of them. She felt I would protect her forever and she would be happy, and she was.

We eloped, getting married a year after we had run from the city that we grew up in. She was pregnant the next year with what was to be our beautiful baby girl. We thought that we would be a family, albeit a dysfunctional one, but a family as far as we could put effort into being. My spice operation grew larger and larger, until I could give the women I loved a home that was worthy of them, and we shared many happy years together. We never thought those happy years would be so very short. Only four years after the birth of our daughter, she became very quickly ill and died. I later was to discover that she had been killed by a slow acting poison that had been meant for me. Of all the people to come between us, her parents had hired an assassin to kill me, thinking that if I was dead she would have no choice but to come home, but she had seen the assassin slipping poison into my food when the servants prepared it, and at the last moment when no one had been around she had switched my plate with her own and taken her last meal to protect me.

Then there I was, a single father with a booming spice business and an illegal operation, and my daughter who didn't yet understand what had happened to her mother. I decided then that I would raise her as best as I could, and many years later she showed the affinity to do the very things that I did, and I knew that her mother would take no issue with her learning these things, as she had never taken issue with me knowing them. When she was old enough she took her mother's last name, and began to take on the beauty that her mother once had. I knew then that I could only raise her in the best way that I could and give her all the love that she would never have from a mother who was stolen from her."

It was true that I never grew up knowing the full love of a mother, but I loved my father all the same. In time I came to understand that her actions had been out of love and she never would have let her parents come between her and the one that she loved. She died being the woman that she wanted to be and loving the man that she wanted to love. The one thing that I can still hear her saying to me, one of the few memories I have of her, is her holding me close to her one night before dinner and saying "Never let anyone tell you who or what to be. Do what you love and do it for yourself." The gravity of those words never struck me until years later when I was finally old enough to understand how and why she had died.

I made a vow to her, then, to not even let my father tell me who I would be. Even so, I had spent all of these years allowing him to prep me for being the perfect little heiress. Sometimes I didn't know my thoughts from those of the Klaww Gang anymore, and sometimes I wondered if my father was even bothered anymore by the way that they pushed me back and forth like some kind of toy. I lost sight of what my mother had wanted of me in the blind devotion that I showed to my father and the constant effort I put into making him proud of me, even if it meant being the Klaww Gang's puppet. As of late, I felt like I was beginning to lose my father. The spice and power had changed him. He was still my father, but he was different somehow in a way that wasn't good for either of us. Even when acknowledging this, though, I allowed myself to be molded and pushed and shoved because I wanted nothing more than for him to not stop loving me, as he was all I had.

This all would be how I got to where I happened to be at the moment. Maybe not the exact events before I got here, but it was what set up the situation to allow my current dilemma to even exist.

After the heist that I pulled for the gang at the Cairo Museum, I was the primary guard for the Clockwerk parts that were now scattered around the world by the Klaww Gang. This job, of course, was what landed me in the care of Dimitri Lousteau, though many could argue that it was the other way around and without me the stupid lizard couldn't find his own tail. I had been sent with him with the instructions to keep an eye on the parts and on him. Even though I was supposed to be shifting between hideouts every week or so to check on the parts, they had told me to stay with Dimitri, because they considered him the least competent when it came to actually keeping things that were important safe. He was too busy trying to turn everything into a party.

Dimitri made me feel gross every time he spoke. It was as if he couldn't even form a coherent sentence. On top of everything else, I hated the room he gave me and I especially hated his dance club, which it was in. He liked to keep the music up as loud as the police would allow him to before he got complaints, and there wasn't even anyone there! I hadn't slept in days; the music was just too loud and irritating for my sensitive ears. All I really wanted at this point was a good night's sleep, but I knew it wasn't coming to me any time soon, so I was sitting in a lounge chair of red velvet overlooking the vacant dance floor. I was on my computer researching the different parties that would be interested in the Clockwerk parts so that I would know who would be most likely to show up and try to take them.

"You look down in your groove" a male voice said behind me suddenly, causing me to jump a bit before I realized it was just Dimitri.

"I haven't slept in days" I growled as I shut my laptop and set it on my tiny side table. "Maybe you could turn the music off and I would be in a better mood."

"Ah, this music is greasy sweet. It sauces up your spicy mood. Let it flow and catch some Z's" he replied.

I was at my breaking point and Dimitri was far from being one of my favorite people. On top of that, there was nothing he could say that didn't make him sound like a total idiot. "I can't live like this!" I finally exploded. My claws ripped the fabric of the chair arms as I stood quickly and bore my teeth at him. "If my father hadn't agreed with the rest that I should be here to guard the tail feathers, I would have been gone the day before I got here!"

"Whoa, Tiger Girl, cool your steamy jets. If you want a new pad then we will provide" he said, backing up to keep his distance from me. I knew he was afraid of me and I loved it because it kept him from bothering me most of the time.

"Just put me anywhere quiet."

It was less than an hour before they had me moved into my new room. I really wasn't surprised at the speed with which they did it. They moved me to a building next door to the nightclub but the walls were amazingly soundproof. The old tenants probably hated the noise as much as I did. Dimitri had bought it since the land lord put it up for sale after having an incredibly, but not really all that surprisingly, hard time renting it out. After he bought it, he made the bottom floor and basement into room for his guards, while the top floor was a "guest pad" but he hadn't thought of putting me there because the Klaww Gang wanted me close to the tail feathers. It was a small one room apartment on the second floor of the building with a separate bathroom and a large round bed. The walls were practically made of windows. Not only did that make it nice and open but it also gave me the ability to watch the nightclub over the tops of the other buildings, not that I wanted to.

"Do you need anything else?" a warthog flashlight guard asked me.

"No" I replied as I turned away and looked out my window.

"We'll be outside, then" he said as he headed for the door.

"No" I repeated. "Do your rounds. I don't need a guard."

"Yes Ma'am" he said as he exited.

"Alone and quiet" I said to myself as I lay down on the bed. It was soft, the perfect place for a cat nap, which is exactly what I intended to do. There wasn't even enough energy in me to change out of my clothes, which were comfortable enough anyway because I wore a simple bikini halter top in which supported my somewhat average bust quite well and a wrap skirt that I tied over my left hip and the fabric was cut at an angle in the front so the hem rose up from just above my right knee to where it was tied. There was a thin decorative belt, tied into the skirt's knot, draped around my hips and had coin-like sequins dangling from it every inch or so. The entire outfit was comfortable midnight blue cotton and I honestly loved it more than anything else in my closet. I had never liked dressing the way my father wanted me to, the whole Indian traditional sari and all, but I stuck to the fashion trends I inherited in the most minimal way possible. Besides, I never cared if I was a bit more exposed than he approved of when I was young, and it was so easy to move around in this outfit that it had never bothered me before.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, tucking myself into a ball. Not even the sound of quiet footsteps on the roof could disturb me now… until a quiet "thunk" joined them and brought me out of the haze that I was trying to fall into. Now there was something up and seeing as the guards hadn't all started shooting like the morons they were, they probably either didn't hear or the guard on my roof was taken out. I checked the pouch I kept on my inner thigh to make sure the knife was still in it before I very slowly pulled open my window and got ready to jump to the roof.


	2. Chapter 1 - A Chase

Using my claws, I climbed silently to the roof of my new apartment, ready for anything that I may find there. The chimney provided me with a hiding place when I got to the top, but what met me were an unconscious toad guard and a raccoon in a blue shirt and hat not paying any attention to his surroundings, instead talking to himself with binoculars held to his face. In his free hand was some sort of cane with a gold crook at the top of it. I recognized this from my research about the feathers. This had to be Sly Cooper. His family had a beef with Clockwerk and he had made it to the top of my list of people who may come for the parts. Granted, I knew very little about him other than being able to identify him, but he couldn't have made this any easier for me. The idiot, not paying any attention, had given me the upper hand, practically handed himself to me.

I approached with careful steps, cautious as to not make any noise and ever glad that the "coins" on my skirt were sequins and therefore made no noise. When I was less than a foot behind him, close enough for my keen nose to pick up his obnoxious scent, I reached out, first grabbing his hand with the weapon in it, and almost simultaneously taking out my blade, holding it to his neck with my other hand.

"I wouldn't move, Raccoon" I growled into his ear. "I won't hesitate to take your head off."

"I'll have to get back to you" he said to himself and lowered his binoculars. That was when I realized that he had been talking to someone using that very same device, as up close it was far more complicated looking than conventional binoculars.

"If you want the tail feathers, I'm afraid that I am going to have to end your heist before it begins. After all, what else would a Cooper be so conveniently lurking around to acquire?" I continued once I knew I had his full attention.

"That's not fair" he said. "You already know who I am and I haven't even had the honor of seeing your lovely face. May I at least have my beautiful captor's name?"

"No" I growled as I dug my claws into his wrist for emphasis, feeling a bit of blood flow beneath my nails, the smell of it hitting my senses only a second later.

"Then why do you care what I do with the tail feathers, seeing as you know so well that I want them" he asked with a tinge of pain reflecting in his voice.

"I'm their protector, that's all you need to know" I replied. "Now drop your weapon."

I smiled at how well he reacted to a little pain as he opened his hand and the cane fell to the rooftop with an audible clang but I didn't reduce my grip on him. "If you're smart, you'll wrap up your little operation right now and leave Paris, because if you stay within a hundred miles of here I will find you" I gritted out in his ear.

"Did I mention that you sound pretty sexy when you growl?" he asked, but I wasn't in the mood to hear it.

"You're disgusting, and you're lucky that I haven't rid the world of you yet, so don't press your luck, Raccoon" I said, applying more pressure to my blade against his neck for emphasis.

"So what happens if I say I'm not leaving?" he asked.

"Do you really want to find out?" I asked in reply. I knew that he actually did know the answer.

"Can I at least see your face if you're going to kill me anyway?" he said.

He was disarmed and I wasn't stupid. On the other hand, he had been stupid enough to not pay attention and let me catch him in the first place. I figured that I could handle him if I had to, but part of me just wanted to get it over with right now and not have to deal with him at all. Still, I hadn't had any fun at all, no challenges other than babysitting that idiot Dimitri, since I got here and perhaps making a bit of a game out of getting rid of him would amuse me long enough to get me through the rest of the time, however long it would be, that the Klaww Gang planned to keep me here. I removed my blade and at the same time I gave him a swift kick to get some distance between us using my grip on his wrist to jerk him around so when he finally caught his footing he was facing me a good five feet away. With a step forward, I kicked up his cane and caught it in my left hand. I balanced it on my palm for a second, finding it to be a relatively light weapon, or tool or whatever it was.

"See, that's not so bad" said Sly as he took a step towards me and I took one back. Now letting him go didn't seem like such a good idea. He had no sense or no fear for the danger that I presented. "Your face is much more lovely now that I can see it" he added and I glared at him. "Don't you ever smile?" he continued.

"Don't you ever shut up?" I retorted. "It's a wonder you can sneak anywhere with that mouth of yours."

"You're a member of the Klaww Gang?" he asked, looking perplexed at my appearance. I probably looked too young or too innocent or something like that in his eyes.

"Not a member, really, more like a future member" I corrected him.

"What makes you want to be a member of the Klaww Gang?" he asked.

"I'm related to someone in the gang, not that it's any of your concern. Are you through asking pointless questions?" I replied.

"Just one more" he said with an irritating smirk on his face. "Why let me go?"

"You're not a threat to me, especially not without this" I said as I waved his cane a bit for emphasis.

"You seem pretty confident" he said.

"I have plenty of reason to be" I said as I put a bit more distance between us, suspecting something.

"If you really thought that then maybe you wouldn't be trying so hard to get away from me" he said as now he took a confident step forward.

"I don't like being too close to strange animals. I might get fleas" I replied, taking a corresponding step back.

"You don't have to worry about that, I don't have fleas" he smiled as he began walking towards me at a slow pace, backing me up until I was at the edge of the rooftop. Having nowhere to go, I stood defiantly as he continued to approach. It was his confidence more than anything that threw me off. Most others by now would be cowering from me. Then again, most others right now would have real reason to believe that I was going to end their life. Usually they had done something stupid by now and enraged me to the point where I had sliced them up quite nicely, but there was something different about him. He knew how to play me. I should have known better than to take him for stupid, he was a master thief after all, there were probably some tricks up his sleeve.

As he neared me, I took a fighting stance, his cane in one hand and my knife in the other, but he stopped just feet from me. His eyes scanned me from head to toe and I couldn't decide if he was checking me out or sizing me up. I couldn't get a read on him. It was no longer certain to me if he would attack without his cane in hand or not. When he made a sudden grab for me, I flinched, drawing my arms back, but he faked me out. I didn't like feeling cornered, but the only ways out were either over his head or off of the rooftop and I didn't particularly take to the latter. Growing impatient, I crouched quickly and then sprung from the ground, intending to land behind him ready to fight, but as I flipped in the air he threw a smoke bomb, immediately obscuring my vision and while I landed with ease, I also felt the cane leave my grasp in my personal moment of confusion.

"Bastard" I growled as I heard him turn and run. As much as I was hoping he would just leave, I knew he wouldn't and I followed the sound of his footsteps out of the smoke and onto the next rooftop where he had already gotten a head start on me, leaping out onto a wire suspended between that building and the next. He looked back during his tightrope act to flash me an irritating smile that managed to make me feel stupid at the same time. I couldn't help but be enraged by him, but an angry me was a fast me and he didn't know what he was in for. On top of that, I knew all of the Klaww Gang member's hideouts like the back of my hand. I grew up being juggled between hideouts, different members needing me at different times, so I learned the streets and roofs as if they were all my home.

It didn't take me long to figure out that I wasn't about to beat him in a foot race. Not that he was faster than me, but he had the advantage of knowing where he was leading me. Taking this into account, I dropped down to the streets when he turned around to run some more, listening for his footsteps along the rooftop while blending into the noise of the street to cover my movements. It wasn't much, but the noise down below from drainage and steam rising up from the sewers along with the gentle flow of the river was enough to cover what little noise I did make. He didn't take long to stop running. His footsteps stopped and I took it that I confused him. Now that he had stopped moving, it was my game again.

Even without seeing it, I knew that this particular rooftop that he stopped on had an archway over a set of stairs that had a raised roof on either side of it used as storage space for the shops that were in the buildings joined by the arch. Right now, if I were to get up on top of the arch right in the valley of the two roofs, I would be in the perfect place to pounce on him like the rat he was. The bricks of these old buildings were worn, and the mortar between them was slowly crumbling out, offering the most opportune climbing surface for me. I used it to climb up the wall under the archway, just out of sight of the roof of the building I knew he was still on, and then flipped myself up onto the top of the arch.

There he was, standing stupidly as if he had lost me or something. I figured he had to have some reason to have stopped here, whether he had lost me or not, and then I peered around the side of the raised rooftop to see what he was looking at and found that he was looking around, but mostly keeping his eye on a building directly across from us that had large windows around the entire upper floor and an antenna there that I didn't remember being there the last time I was around. There was also a strange van parked underneath the complex. I tried to think of what had been there. The last time I'd been around, some artist lived in that building, a freelance painter with no success especially since Dimitri was around. It was perfectly possible that the building had been abandoned, and Dimitri was slow about finding a use for abandoned things if he didn't buy them with a purpose in mind. It was perfectly possible that the Cooper Gang had found this abandoned building, right next to the nightclub with a perfect view of it, and made their base here. I decided to keep that in mind, making a note to check back later to confirm it, but my mind came back to the irritating raccoon still standing on the rooftop to my right.

I waited for him to turn away, seeming not too convinced that he had gotten rid of me, before I leapt from my hiding place and onto his back, taking special care to knock his cane from his grasp before struggling to try to pin him down. The two of us struggled to pin each other to the rooftop, clawing and wrestling each other into submission. Finally, I managed to fight him down and straddle him to the rooftop.

"Okay, you caught me" he said with a smile.

"You seem awfully calm for a man who could die at any moment" I said with a low growl.

"It's not every day that a beautiful woman chases a man down and pins him to a rooftop" he stated. At the same time I felt his tail trying to hike up my skirt.

"Great, I caught myself a pervert" I said as I looked back to glare at his tail. "I would remove that if I was you or I would be afraid of loosing it very soon." I hadn't realized his goals, though. The tail had been a distraction and I had taken my concentration off of him for just a moment. It was just long enough for him to turn the tables on me. As soon as he moved to remove his tail, he managed to twist his hands and grip my wrists in one fluent movement, bringing his knees up at the same time and forcing his body into a sitting position. This all resulted in me being pinned to his lap instead of him being pinned to the roof. He now had effectively made me his captive and sat me in his lap at the same time. I could only wonder where he would take this from here. With that thought, I struggled against him, doing my best to try to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Don't do that" he gritted out, tightening his grip on my wrists. I stopped moving, only to find myself greeted by an unpleasant result of my wiggling as my body came to rest against his again. He caught his breath and surprised me by not making any more moves. As aroused as my struggling made him, I thought he would be all over me trying to rape me or something, but instead he looked as uncomfortable as I was with the situation. "Look, you might think I'm a pervert but I guess the situation calls for me to clarify that I'm a flirt, not a pervert" he said. His words snapped my attention to his eyes. Damn him. We were a mere six inches apart now. I had to admit that the stupid raccoon was pretty attractive now that I got a good look at his face. "Now that I have your attention, can I have your name?"

"No" I said stubbornly.

"I'm not going to let you go until I get your name. What are you, Dimitri's wife or something?" he asked.

"Wife?" I spat the word out as if it was poison. "I hate that disgusting bastard."

"Then why are you helping him?" he asked.

"I already told you, the Klaww Gang keeps me on for things like this" I said. "I don't choose where I go and Dimitri is an idiot so I often have to baby-sit him. There are you happy?"

"I won't be until I get your name" he said.

"Then be unhappy" I spat. I just wanted him to let me go.

"I don't think I'm being unreasonable" he said to me in a matter-of-fact way. "You know my name, so I want to know yours."

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked.

"Because it does" was his answer, and I now could see this going nowhere.

I looked away from him and there was an awkward silence between us for almost a minute before I grunted out "Mirage" so he could just barely hear it.

"What?" he asked. He hadn't caught it.

"Mirage, you idiot" I growled. "Mirage Sekhar, are you happy now?"

"Mirage" he repeated. I almost hated the way it rolled off his tongue. "That's a nice name."

"Will you let me go now?" I growled.

"No, I finally have your attention" he replied.

"What do you need now?" I asked. "My birthday, my horoscope, the day that I first chipped a claw and cried… what?!"

"You've cried?" he asked as if he couldn't believe what I'd said.

"That's not the point, get to it" I demanded, sick of being stuck in this uncomfortable position.

"Do you even know what the Klaww Gang has stolen?" he demanded.

"Yes" I stated. "I'm the one who broke into the Cairo Museum and took it." His eyes widened at that, as if he really didn't expect an answer like that.

"You?" he asked, still looking as confused as ever.

"Yes, me" I replied and I glared at him. "You actually think that the Klaww Gang would take time out of their precious lives to go and steal something when they have a perfectly capable and mobile thief just waiting for something to do?"

"The Clockwerk parts are dangerous. Clockwerk was filled with evil and hatred and when he died all the parts kept that inside of them" he began to lecture me. "They need to be destroyed so that Clockwerk can never come back. Only bad things can come of their continued existence."

"Look, Cooper" I stated. "I can understand that your family's history with Clockwerk isn't exactly pleasant, but your family history is really none of our concern. I was given a job and I did it, I didn't ask questions."

"Well maybe you should start asking questions" he retorted. "Being the Klaww Gang's little puppet doesn't excuse you from what you did and the fact that you're ignoring how dangerous these parts are."

Something about the word 'puppet' coming from him made the idea itself sting more than it usually did when I thought about it. Maybe because it was coming from someone else and I couldn't dismiss it as a fleeting moment of paranoia, it finally struck me. "I am not a puppet" I growled as I struggled against him again, harder this time than last.

"I've asked you not to do that" he gritted out with his teeth clenched.

"Well I've asked you to let me go, so neither of us are getting what we want now, are we?" I replied as I still tried to pull myself out of his grasp.

"And you are a puppet" he said, I could tell that he was now getting pretty fed up with my squirming. "What else would you call yourself? If you do everything they tell you without asking any questions then you are a puppet or a slave."

"Shut up, Cooper" I sneered at him. "You don't know anything about me. I'm doing this for me, for my future" I argued, but a huge part of me didn't believe in my own argument. "One day the Klaww Gang is going to accept me into their ranks for all the help that I've given them."

"And then what?" he asked me. I stopped and looked into his eyes. What did he mean? "Once you become a full-fledged member of the Klaww Gang, who says that it's going to stop. You'll still be a puppet, but you'll be a puppet with a title."

"I will be respected" I growled. No, I didn't believe what I was saying, because he had such a good point that had been proven time and time again, but I wasn't going to give in to that idea. "Dimitri already fears me, and the others have respect for my talents, even if they do have me doing a lot of jobs for them. I will take my father's place of power and I will be happy" I said, with more and more demand in my voice as if I was telling life itself what I was going to do. "I am not and will never be a puppet. I do what I do because I want to, and not because any gang tells me how to run my life."

"Do you even know who you're trying to convince?" he asked me in return. "Because it sounds an awful lot like you're just trying to convince yourself."

"Shut up!" I screamed and with a bought of rage I freed one of my hands, bringing it up and slapping him across the face, digging in my claws without thinking about it. He let me go, both at the sudden outburst and because now he was clutching the side of his face that I had hit. With a start, he stood up and I simply floundered off of his lap landing on my butt on the rooftop. We both had a moment of silence to recover, him because his face was now bleeding and me because he had hit me where I live.

"I don't care if you know what you want from your life or not" he said. I could tell that he was angry now. "It's my turn not to care about your family problems because I'm taking the Clockwerk tail feathers and no one is going to stop me, not even some crazy little girl with a daddy complex."

I didn't even bother to stand up. For the first time in my life, someone had ripped me completely open and looked inside to the things that I hadn't ever wanted to admit to myself, and not only that but the person who did it was a complete stranger. I hadn't wanted to cry so badly since my mother had passed away. What made him so special that he read me like an open book? And more, what made it his business? Well, I guess I made it his business by attacking him. "I will stop you" I spoke weakly, my voice cracking a little under the emotional strain I was feeling.

"I'd like to see you try" he retorted, still angry, as he turned and walked away from me. I made no move whatsoever to stop him as he jumped off of the roof and went wherever it was that he was going. For a moment, I just sat there trying to pull myself back together again.

"I am not a puppet" I told myself, but I knew better than anyone that I didn't believe what I was saying. As I sat there, I felt as if something had to be done to make him pay for hurting me so deeply. This was my father's rage kicking in, driving me, but at the same time my mother's voice resonated in my head, asking me if this was the right thing to do. I hated Cooper for picking me apart, but at the same time he had a good point. The Klaww Gang never did tell me what they truly wanted with the parts. They just told me to go get them, and I had trusted that they each had their own plan because they had agreed so easily to the way that the parts had been split up, each part to a new owner who could use it to it's greatest potential. My mind began to spin. What they had all done, it had made perfect sense until now. But, he was right, I never asked any questions. I just did what they wanted me to do and that was it.

I finally got myself off of the ground and brushed off, deciding that the first thing I should do is get back to my new apartment and do some research. That thief had said that Clockwerk was so dangerous that even his separate parts were dangerous. I honestly didn't know enough about Clockwerk to make a call like that, but it was about time that I stared asking questions and getting some answers. If nothing else, I would prove to him that I wasn't a puppet, as much as I was proving it to myself. Next time we met he wouldn't catch me off guard again.


	3. Chapter 2 - Meddling Crackerbox

As it ended up, I got my good night's sleep throughout the day instead of at night like I would have liked, but Dimitri's club was popular enough that the Cooper idiot would have been out of his mind to try to rob it during the day. I was now sitting on a bench in front of the nightclub, Le Theatre Formidable, using the light from the obnoxious peacock sign to illuminate the notebook that I was taking notes down in.

My research had started with just the Clockwerk parts and Clockwerk himself, and I was amazed at how old the bird actually was. He hated the Coopers so much that he made himself an immortal body just so that he could hunt them throughout time. Now our gang was using the tireless pieces of that body to produce spice and distribute it around the globe, which was good for my father, but there were some things that weren't explained by that simple idea. It was certain that I had truly been stuck with the most useless member of the bunch by the way things looked. And I began to wonder how exactly Arpeggio and the Contessa fit into this equation. Arpeggio was the technology expert and the Contessa was, by all means, relatively new to the Klaww Gang, but if all they were trying to do was increase spice distribution then two of the five members weren't doing anything useful at all.

Something just didn't make sense, and some part of me knew not to put anything past the other members of the Klaww Gang. All in all, I knew what my father was doing, I knew that Dimitri was too stupid to do much more than watch over some of the parts as best as he could and use them for something equally stupid, like printing fake money, and my father worked very closely with Jean Bison so I always was kept up to date in his activity of shipping spice through North America. I wasn't even really sure where the idea had spawned in my head that something was up, but after realizing what we were dealing with, an immortal body, I felt that I had been kept out of the link about something. It felt wrong to point fingers at other members of the Klaww Gang and say they were doing something behind our backs, but there was something that was definitely up and it was probably Arpeggio's brainchild. After all, I noticed the day that we got the parts that he knew more about them than anyone else in the room and was the mastermind behind who got what and how it would be used.

Don't get me wrong. I actually really was fond of Arpeggio. He was the whole reason that I knew anything about technology. When I was too young to do anything with the gang itself he was often my babysitter while the others went out and did the heavy lifting. He was good for technology but other than being the mastermind behind most of the plans, he wasn't very useful in the field. It was in those long hours of waiting for the gang to return with their loot that he taught me the finer arts of hardware. After years spent with him, I could hotwire, hardwire, fix, modify, tinker and generally put things together just as well as he could. I got too old before he could teach me the finer arts of software, but we still got a few lessons in here and there over the years. It was because I knew Arpeggio so well that I knew that he would be the most likely to be keeping something from the rest of the gang.

"Little Tiger Girl" Dimitri's voice cut through my thoughts like a knife. I hated the nickname that he had given me, reducing me to a breed instead of an individual.

"Can't you see I'm busy?" I asked as I shut my laptop and flipped my notebook shut.

"Why are you not in the printing press room?" he asked me.

"Why should I be?" was my reply, not seeing his point.

"Strange things have been going down. Someone is trying to jack the parts, I feel it in my feet" he said.

"Well, at least you've got that much sense" I said. "His name is Sly Cooper, he's a raccoon and honestly I don't know where he is. I had a run in with him last night but he got away."

"If you've seen the meddling crackerbox then it's even more reason you should be chilling in the press room" he said, exasperated at my obvious lack of worry about the situation.

"I'm cooking up a plan right now" I said, patting my laptop. It was a lie, but I didn't care. I just wanted him to leave me alone. "And besides, I can hear everything from right here. The press is on right now, it just got turned on about a half an hour ago. One of your guests got a little crazy and smashed a table about fifteen minutes ago. One of the rat guards tripped on a empty bottle and threw a fit in the back of the club about an hour ago. You definitely have a mouse problem in the main dance hall because I can hear the little squeaks all the way out here. Oh, and you really shouldn't take your women into your private boat. Some of us can hear that all the way back here" I told him. "Look, just chill, Dimitri. I can hear everything going on around here just fine with these sensitive ears of mine. If he so much as takes a breath within a hundred feet of here, I will find him. You know I can do this. I'd rather stop him before he gets into the printing press room than have to try to stop him when he's already down there."

"Alright" said Dimitri. "I trust you to be on your game, Tiger Girl. If you see him, make him dead. I am on my way back to my boat to get my groove back and chill a little."

He headed off and I went back to my computer, just about to open it when the quiet sound of footsteps caught my attention. They were light, obviously trying not to alert anyone, but they were also familiar and they sounded like they were headed for the back of the nightclub. Shortly after I perked my ears up, I heard a louder sound of a window being opened at the back of the club. Abandoning my computer and notebook on the bench, I leapt up and quickly made my way through the front doors of the club. I stuck to the shadows and followed my ears to the back dance hall.

The disco room was vacant, but the huge mirror ball was still reflecting light all over the empty room. Dimitri's office was set on one side of the room. There was a second entrance to the office from the back of the building and the back dance hall, but that wasn't what I was worried about. Moving quickly and quietly, I climbed up the support beams for the disco ball and leapt out onto it. Someone looking at it from anywhere below would most likely see the glaring light shining off of it first. From my vantage point, I scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary but everything seemed fine in this room, not that it meant that things were fine elsewhere.

It was moments later that I heard a vent get smashed in the other room, right above the door to the office. There was the sound of crawling and then I saw none other than Cooper drop into Dimitri's office from the ceiling. He was carrying a piece of art on his back that looked identical to the prized one that Dimitri kept on a pedestal near his desk. Knowing that I wouldn't get anything useful out of a confrontation, I decided to remain a silent observer because I was interested as to what they were up to. He swapped the paintings and then stood there for a moment as if he was being talked to by someone. It made sense that he would have a communication device in his ear. Judging by how he had been talking through his binoculars the night before, he certainly wasn't in this alone but I had no idea how many or who his other operatives were.

I stayed on the ball as Cooper took the main door out to the back dance hall and then I got down and headed into the office. Without touching the painting, I looked it over. There were no cameras in it, but I did catch a tiny microphone in a darker part of the paint. They must have bugged the office to listen in on Dimitri but honestly there wasn't that much to listen in on. Dimitri wasn't all that much of a real threat in my opinion and he probably wouldn't do anything anyway as long as I was here. He tended to leave everything up to me when I was at the club. It also occurred to me, though, that all of the radio communications came through here and if the person who put this together was as good with technology as me or better that he would have known to pick up on those somehow so that he could listen in on the guards.

At this point I couldn't pick up at all on what they were trying to do, maybe because they didn't have a plan yet. I did know that they were now listening in on us and they had been there two nights already so they probably knew a lot more about us than I did about them. Actually, all I knew was that Cooper was here for the tail feathers because of his family, so right now they had lead on us. I didn't want to tamper with their bug because it would give away the fact that I knew what they were up to, but now I considered this to be unfairly tilted in their favor. It was only fair at this point that I did some reconnaissance of my own, seeing as they made it clear that they weren't giving up, so I headed out to the streets in front of the building again and tried to zero in on anything odd with my keen hearing.

"Miss Sekhar, Ma'am!" a guard stopped and addressed me. It was really the only time they spoke proper English.

"I understand that Dimitri went to his private boat" I said, taking the opportunity to get the scoop on the whole situation. "What were his orders?"

"He told us to ring the bell on his boat when the coast was clear" he replied. "But he didn't really say clear from what."

"Have you noticed anything going on out here? Anything unusual?" I asked as I continued to listen for something.

"No, but we haven't given him a signal yet" he replied.

"Good" I said. Without explanation, I reached over and tugged the communication device out of his ear and threw it on the ground, stomping it.

"Hey, why'd you do that?!" he exclaimed.

"I'll pay Dimitri for the damage, but right now I need you to do me a favor and tell all the other guards face to face that I will be the one to ring the bell because I have seen some strange things going on and I will know when the coast is clear. No one is to use radio communications" I told him. I honestly had no idea what Dimitri was even doing, but I did know that if they had heard about the guards ringing the bell over the communications system, then they would know how to lure Dimitri out. It didn't matter what they planned to do with Dimitri, because this was my chance to follow them around instead of them spying on us. If I wanted to run neck-in-neck with them, then I would need to find out who they were, where they were, and bug their hideout if possible. That would even the score.

The guard who I had sent out came back within ten minutes, informing me that the message was being passed on and that he intended to keep letting other guards know. Once I knew that my message was getting out to the guards, I, myself, headed for Dimitri's boat. If I was the only one who was allowed to ring it, then anyone else ringing it would either have to be Cooper and his gang or an idiot guard who didn't get the message, and my bets were on Cooper showing up. They would think from the message they intercepted that any guard could ring it and they could just ring it and catch Dimitri off guard, but instead now I had changed the rules to the game a little bit. When the bell rang, I would be waiting to take the necessary action.

I sat on top of one of the buildings near Dimitri's boat, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. There was no guarantee that Cooper would take the bait, but at this point I was more interested in using this opportunity to figure out where their hideout was. It didn't matter if they captured Dimitri or beat him up and ran or just watched him because they would have to return to their hideout eventually and they would be so intent on watching him that there was an excellent chance they wouldn't see me. I took up a place on the very roof where Cooper and I had our encounter the night before and got out of view on the other side of the roof.

It was probably a good fifteen minutes before I heard the bell ring. I stood quickly and peered over the roof to make sure that it wasn't one of the guards who had done it, and I was in luck because there stood Cooper on top of Dimitri's boat. Of course, he was in plain sight for me, but Dimitri didn't even turn around so he never saw him. Part of this was nostalgic and made me smile to myself as the two of them headed across town. It wasn't the first time that I had trailed someone that was trailing Dimitri and he didn't know about either of us. Part of me just did want to take out Cooper and be done with it, but if I did that then his gang would probably just finish the job. After all, that's how things were in the Klaww Gang. If one of us went down, the others just picked up the slack until a new member was chosen for the old member's responsibilities.

Dimitri lead us to the door to the underground water pump station. I noticed that Cooper had leapt down to street level now. While I stayed on the rooftops, I could only assume that he had gotten the code for the door to the aqua pump room because Dimitri would think that the coast was clear and wouldn't be the slightest bit suspicious of what was going on. However, I didn't think that was really useful to them. The aqua pump security wasn't linked to any of the newer security, and what could they possibly accomplish in there? Sure, they could destroy it, but that would mean that we would just have to get water from somewhere else for a while. It wasn't exactly threatening, or at least I didn't see it that way. Once Dimitri was in, I heard Cooper talking to his friends over whatever communication device he must have had in his ear. They spoke for a minute or so and then he was on the move again.

Once again, I was lead across town, to a location that was getting all too familiar. He took the rooftops closest to the river back to his hideout. As I was about to find out, our original fight had ended not even 50 feet away from the entrance to their hideout. They were on the second floor of a relatively small building where the entire upper floor was windows. To make things even better, they were in the building straight across from the nightclub, the one that had belonged to the young and failing artist. I should have just assumed it when I saw the strange things at that building. The van was obviously not a common vehicle around here, and honestly I had thought the antenna a little suspicious, but now I felt stupid that I had to follow him to figure that much out, especially after the way I felt about it before.

Cooper headed inside, and after a short while inside of the hideout, someone else came out. This man was a large pink hippo with a mask over the top half of his face and what seemed to be goggles. He wore a simple light blue t-shirt with a white scarf and a brown belt around the bottom of the shirt. On his hands he wore red gloves with what seemed to be tassels. It was pretty obvious from the first time I saw him that he was a fighter. He definitely looked like he was built to take on pretty strong opponents, and being what he was he probably had no problem doing it, either. My suspicions of this were confirmed when he took out a flashlight guard with two punches when he ran into him in the street.

My next suspicion was that they were sending him out to the aqua pump room. For what reason they were after it was beyond me, but if that was the deal then I would just let him do it. I still saw no threat in him getting in there, because what could they do, and on top of that I knew I couldn't take him in a physical challenge because even if he wasn't a fighter he had sheer size on his side. He looked to be at least four of me in weight. Maybe my father could take him on, but I knew it would be a stupid move on my part to even try. I didn't have a death wish tonight. That being said, I turned to head back to my apartment.

My plan was to quick whip up a bug and bring it back here. Then again, I didn't know how I would get it into that building if one of them was always there. There was a pretty good chance that I would get caught. I also didn't know how many they had in that building. They drove around in a van and that building could comfortably fit maybe six people if it had to, so I was looking at up to six thieves that I might have to deal with if I just tried to sneak in. I was already a couple of rooftops away when I heard the sound of feet landing on the edge of the roof where I had recently been. I stopped.

"Not going after him?" that annoyingly familiar voice asked.

"No, Cooper, I know I can't take on someone his size and I'm not feeling very suicidal at the moment" I said as I turned around to face him. He was standing with one leg crossed behind the other, using his cane for support.

"That building is made of windows you know. We could see your white fur in the moonlight from where we were sitting" he said. "I told Murray to watch out for you. I didn't really expect you to turn tail and run."

"I'm insulted that you think I'm so stupid to take on someone more than twice my size with an obvious aptitude for fighting" I said.

"Well, after what I told them about you the night before, Bentley predicted that you might try to bust in after seeing Murray leave, but you didn't so I came to check you out" he smirked. I assumed that he said it that way for a reason.

"So how many of you are there, then?" I asked.

"Three" he answered, almost smugly.

"You don't honestly expect me to believe that" I replied.

"Well, I guess Bentley could suddenly build a robot or something just for the fun of it" he trailed off.

"So Bentley must be your technology expert. You have a rather small gang if all you have is three. You plan to take on the Klaww Gang that way?" I asked, seeing how far I could take this. He was pretty smug to be giving away information and by now I knew that he was just probably throwing me little treats to keep me interested and keep me where I was.

"We're not looking for head-on confrontations or gang wars or anything like that. We like to do our work without being seen" he stated.

"I've already seen you" I said. "So I don't think that's an option."

"I don't think that will be a problem" he replied. I frowned at his comment and then turned to leave, not really wanting to hear the whole puppet thing again if that was where he was trying to go with this. There were better things for me to be doing right now, like making a bug that I could slip into their hideout without them realizing that I had done it. "Leaving already?" he asked, standing up straight and moving towards me.

"I don't have time for you" I said.

"Ouch, that's kind of hurtful" he winced dramatically.

"The truth hurts" I shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure that we'll see each other again. It will probably take your gang weeks to get at the tail feathers anyway. I'll find time for you at some point." I glanced back at him long enough to see that he was slack-jawed, probably at my sudden change of attitude. There was one more card that I had up my sleeve at the moment, and that was to treat him like the player I took him for. He had made some pretty open advances on me, and two could play that game. Before taking another step, I shot him a smoldering gaze over my shoulder and then as I walked to the edge of the roof I made sure to sway my hips with every step and swing my tail with them in perfect hypnotic harmony.

I didn't look back as I hopped down off of the rooftop and ran from there, disappearing once again in the shadows. My actions hopefully would throw him off and discourage him from following me. It wasn't clear to me if he had realized that the building that we started our chase on the night before was the one that I was currently living in, but if I could I wanted to keep him from knowing where I was living. There was an explosion from the other side of town as I reached my building. I figured that the hippo had managed whatever task he had been sent out to do, and as I walked into my room I could hear the panic of guards on the radio that I kept on in case they needed me. With a shake of my head, I turned to grab my computer, almost face-palming when I realized that I had left it on the bench in all the excitement.

I was almost too lazy and tired to climb out my window, but I did anyway and went to ask the rat guard on my roof to retrieve my things from the bench in front of the nightclub. He seemed shocked that I wasn't alarmed about the recent explosion, but he did as I asked and returned quickly. The other gang was certainly planning their next move by now, so I had to hurry and do the same. I realized now that a bug in their hideout would be impractical, but it would be just as simple to make a bug that I could place on Cooper somewhere. He wasn't that hard to make physical contact with, after all, and if I could place something on him his techno-friend would probably be less likely to suspect it or spot it. It would have to be small and I could probably just use a bit of Velcro to attach it to him somewhere. Not everything had to be high-tech. If I made a microphone with a small data receiver in it, then I could listen in on their communications with their devices and listen to them talking in their base. Now I just had to pull up some specs and get to work.


	4. Chapter 3 - Close Encounters

It took me an hour or so on the internet looking up specs and another hour or so of tinkering with parts that I had guards retrieve for me at random before I had a device that I was happy with. Of all things to do last, I hot glued the Velcro on the back of it and that made it feel kind of official that I was ready. By the time I was done, though, it had been time for me to get some sleep. The sun had risen and I realized that the Cooper Gang was nocturnal, so I would be the same.

I woke up just before sunset, which gave me enough time to clean up before heading out of my apartment. They would probably be out and about closer to midnight or so, but I wanted to get a head start scouting out the area and the damage from the day before. As I understood it, the guards had the aqua pump room cleaned up but there was no repairing the damage, at least not quickly. The hippo had stuffed the open water vein full of rat guards. It sounded like both a gruesome and ugly way to die and a really cruel way to blow something up. Either way, what was done was done and now I needed to find a way to keep tabs on them, and that was the very thing I was on my way to do.

After having issued the orders to the workforce on how to take care of the aqua pump disaster, as they were insisting it was, I headed back out and up on top of the water tower that was near the entrance to the aqua pump. This old water tower had been replaced by the pump shortly after Dimitri set up shop here because he ran a lot of water through the club. He wanted all sorts of fountains everywhere, including the one he had them install in front of the club. Needless to say, he was kind of a water hog.

Taking my mind off of Dimitri's obsessive need for water, I thought about where Cooper or members of his gang might be tonight. So far, I felt like spying and random destruction were their tactics, and by those tactics they could be anywhere. I decided to start at their hideout and follow the path of destruction, because if they were always like this there surely was one. My feet carried me from rooftop to rooftop but as I headed that way, a moving figure across the rooftops caught my eye. Thinking it was Cooper, I followed only to quickly find out that whoever it was surely wasn't him. It was a woman, and from what I saw of her she looked to be a tiger like me, but there was no positive way to tell from this distance. She was purple in color which made me immediately believe that she was a cross breed of some kind. That didn't matter as I followed her, though. I needed to make sure that she wasn't a new threat. Cooper could wait.

She stopped on a high roof near my apartment and looked around as if waiting for something. It wasn't long before I found what I had been looking for, and realized that he had been what she was waiting for. As he approached the roof she was on, on a lower story of course, she leapt down and caught his attention. I got a little closer to hear him call her Constable Neyla. Great, just what I needed, the cops were here. He seemed awfully chummy with her while I just wondered why she sounded so familiar. It was in my moment of distraction that they were suddenly gone.

"Crap!" I said loud enough that if they were still there they would have heard me and I took off at a run to see if I could find them. Lucky for me, this woman wasn't very quiet. She was taking shots at anything and everything that came within sight and it almost seemed as if she was leading us both on. I wouldn't have doubted that she knew I was there, especially after the way I shouted out. Part of me wasn't surprised as she led us to the fenced in side of the club with an outdoor setup, "the pad" as Dimitri called it. I watched her hand Cooper something before gesturing to the door, so I could only assume that she got a hold on one of the keys to the back in the most "legal" manner that she could. Again, that wasn't my problem at the moment because I didn't even know what they would be planning on doing going into the discotheque because the printing press room wasn't accessible from there. No wonder those cops who had come after me during my break-in hadn't even caught sight of me. I heard them long before they even got in, probably because they were used to dealing with the roundabout way the Cooper Gang seemed to do things, meanwhile my method had been to take out the guards as fast as I could and take the most direct route into the room with the parts, the heist taking me less than ten minutes to complete once the plans were in action. They had sent along a recovery team that helped me remove the parts and we were already headed out when we heard the cops pulling up to the building.

I had to shake off my distraction a second time as I saw that she was gone already and Cooper was looking around the fenced in area. The guards were gone from there at the moment, probably still tracing the trail of destruction she left behind. I climbed the fence quickly and hid in the shadows, approaching the unsuspecting thief with as much stealth as I could muster. He had turned to look at the door again and I took the transceiver I built out of my top, holding it with the intention of just attaching it to him, and I would have been successful if it hadn't been for the one stray power cord in the entire place. If I didn't know better, the damn thing was laughing at me as it caught my foot in mid-stride and sent me flying at Cooper, of all people. Maybe tonight I would make it my thing to just be obnoxiously obvious everywhere I went and then I would at least expect to get caught.

A squeak escaped my lips, but Cooper had heard me trip and turned around before I could hit him, catching me around the waist instead. My fingers instinctively tangled in the collar of his shirt for balance and support. Momentarily we both seemed too dumbstruck to do anything at all. My brain registered that the bug was tucked safely under his collar, but I wouldn't let go and neither would he. Here we were, mere inches from each other's faces, so close that I could feel his breath and practically see my reflection in his eyes. Even the other night we hadn't been this close to each other and I felt like something had short-circuited in my brain, but it was probably due to the fact that I wasn't really thinking about doing things this way.

"I thought the whole point of following someone was to not get caught" he said, breaking the silence between us. It wasn't enough to snap me out of whatever trance I was in, though.

"I meant to do that" I muttered, my brain on autopilot. 'Snap out of it brain!' I yelled internally.

"What part of it did you intend to do?" he smirked at me. "The yelling, the tripping, or the being caught?"

"I'm feeling obnoxious tonight" I replied, somewhat shaking my haze. What the hell kind of cologne did this guy have on? That's right… I would blame it on that.

"Why do I feel like the only intentional thing you had in mind was the being caught?" he asked, squeezing my waist a bit for emphasis.

"I think you're crazy" I said, and whatever had broken in my brain finally repaired itself, allowing me to pry my fingers from his collar, but he still didn't let me go. "I'm safe, though; I didn't fall on the ground and crack my skull, so you can let me go now."

"I really don't mind this" he replied with a shrug.

"Well, I've had enough, thank you" I replied flatly, finding myself again. I still felt off though because normally I would have clawed his face off by now. Maybe all this was happening because sleeping during the day made me weird.

"What happened?" he asked and I looked at him quizzically. "You know what I mean" he continued. "Last night, you were definitely flirting with me."

"I don't really go for the non-committal type" I replied, hoping that he would get my insinuation.

"Are you saying that I don't do relationships?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I couldn't have put it better, myself" I stated.

"I'll have you know that you're mistaken" he decided to inform me.

"Oh?" I quipped. "Well, tonight alone you've flirted with me and you seemed awfully close to that cop… do I even want to know why?"

"Are you jealous of her?" he asked, his smirk returning to his face.

"No. Why would I be?" now he was getting annoying.

"You are. You're jealous that there are other women who chase me around" his smirk turned into a grin.

"You're drawing incorrect conclusions" I replied and I leaned away from him in his grasp but that only seemed to dare him to lean closer to me in response.

"Then why even ask?" he seemed to focus on my lips for a moment before meeting my eyes again.

"Because if she's a cop and she's here and you're working with her, then that makes it my concern because she's probably trying to bust the man I'm supposed to be protecting" I replied quickly.

"She happens to be the reason I knew the Klaww Gang had the parts. A slip of the tongue on her part lead me here and now she's made my job a little easier with some much needed information" he explained. "And I still think you're just jealous."

"Oh, please, don't flatter yourself" I snapped.

"I'm hurt" he said, making his expression mock his words. "And here I thought you might at least find me a little attractive."

"Again, don't flatter yourself" I said flatly.

"So, you don't desire me at all?" he asked.

"No" I replied.

He leaned closer to me, his muzzle right beside my ear and he whispered "Are you absolutely sure?" There was a husky undertone to it that sent a very involuntary shiver down my spine and made my eyelids flutter shut. My traitorous body was going to give in to this crap?!

"I am positive" I replied with all the strength I had left.

"I guess I'll just let you go, then" he said and he released his grip on my waist, allowing me to stumble back a couple of steps. He looked disappointed and then he downcast his eyes. There was something about that disappointment, like he hadn't meant me to see it. It was also something about that look of disappointment that made me feel like all along he had been trying to get me on his side. All of the talk about me being a puppet actually had made me doubt my own gang a bit, which it shouldn't have been able to do if I was absolutely sure of what was going on. Now, this look of disappointment in his eyes as if charming me was the last resort in getting me to let off on his gang and let them have the tail feathers. When I had threatened his life, he wouldn't leave. I knew his family had been at odds with Clockwerk but what made him want them so badly that he would put his own life in danger?

"Tell me…" I said. "If you had the Clockwerk parts, what would you do with them?" Now that it was out, the question was burning me. Why did he want them? How could he use them to more of an effect than the Klaww Gang, who, in my opinion, wasn't using them to half of their potential?

He lifted his gaze and met mine with a new determination in his eyes. "I want to destroy them" he answered.

"Why?" I asked, truly confused by his answer, but now that I set the ball in motion there was no stopping it. I needed to know the truth about something, as it was obvious to me now that it was being kept from me by my own gang. "The parts, if someone knew enough about them, I think they could do anything."

"That's the problem" Sly answered. "Do you know why those parts are immortal?" I shook my head no in response. "It's because there was so much hatred in Clockwerk for my family that he replaced his whole body with mechanical parts. What kind of hatred drives a person to make that sort of choice? To replace your entire body with a machine and become immortal because of your hatred for someone, it can't be an easy decision. When I defeated Clockwerk I thought it was over and that I would never have to live in fear of him again, but I was wrong, those parts are so filled with hatred that his body continues to live, even in pieces. I'm not worried about the things the Klaww Gang is using them for, I'm worried about someone getting them all and putting them back together. That kind of hatred is dangerous to the whole world and I don't want to know what someone's motive would be in putting that thing back together again."

Something about his answer threw me off. I never thought of it that way, and now the suspicion that something was being kept from me was so much stronger. After all, Arpeggio, the technology expert of all things, told the gang that we needed the parts, and now he and the Contessa were doing nothing useful to the spice trade with the parts they had taken. If anyone in the Klaww Gang would be smart enough to try to put the parts back together, it would be those two, especially Arpeggio. But what could they possibly want by reviving Clockwerk? Suddenly, I was very confused. Part of me didn't want to believe that Arpeggio was keeping something from me, because deep down I wanted to believe that he trusted me, but at the same time I couldn't help but notice that there were definitely things that I hadn't been told. I didn't care if he lied to the rest of them, but I thought he trusted me. He trusted me to get the parts, so why couldn't he tell me the truth about why we needed them?

A nearby explosion shook me from my thoughts. "That would be Murray doing his part" said Sly. "I need to get back to the hideout, I'm sure you know where to find me if you really want to."

He turned and left as I collected myself again. I was supposed to be a good thief and a member of the Klaww Gang. My mind was supposed to be unbreakable, but yet he had broken me over and over again now. Not to mention, my desire to help Dimitri was nearly zero because I honestly didn't like him that much. Now I felt like my own gang was betraying me, but maybe things were kept from me because I wasn't an official member of the gang. A second explosion occurred a little farther away, but I had stopped caring about the things that were going on around me. I needed to talk to Dimitri, because if I could scare anyone into telling me the truth it would be him. Reaching into my top, I took out my key to the back door of the club and my earpiece that would allow me to hear what their gang was up to now.

"Ok, Sly, there's the power boxes which route to the printing press area. To take care of them, I'll need you to put a splice clip in those spotlights." It was a voice that I didn't recognize, but judging by the topic I would conclude it was their technology expert. Taking out the power to the printing press room still wouldn't get them down there safely, so for now I didn't care what they were up to, and I was on a mission. I headed up and into Dimitri's office, where I found the annoying Lizard cleaning up and getting ready to probably head to his boat.

When he saw me enter, he immediately became frantic. "What is with all of the booms and busting around here, Tiger Girl?" he flailed. "My club, she is crying."

"Cool down, Dimitri" I said, holding my hand up. "I have a question for you." He crossed his arms and stared at me, as if to tell me to go on. "What did Arpeggio say he wanted to do with the parts? What's the ultimate goal of getting them?"

"Like I would know. That bird never sings his plans. He says parts would be good for business, so we get parts, yeah? I don't do crazy mind reading things, so I just go with the flow" he answered me.

"Ok, I'm going to take care of all the booming and busting now, so calm down and go do whatever it is that you plan on doing with your night" I said, waving my hand in dismissal. I had totally forgotten about the bug in the room until after he walked out, but what harm would it do now… there was nothing for them to know and I knew it too. There wouldn't even be any point in demanding the truth because I could tell by the way he talked that what he told me was as much as he knew.

"Murray took out the security alarms outside of the building. Now that you have the fans slowed down, all you need to do is go up and insert that splice clip" I heard the expert tell Sly over their communications. I stopped listening, having no real reason to because I knew what they were doing. There was shooting and explosions from the next room over and the declaration of no security in the printing press room over their headsets. My ears only perked up once more for the next phase of their plan. "Head back to the safe-house and hand off that key to me, I'm going to do a little demolition in the discotheque."

"Ok, Bentley, I'm on my way" said Sly. I hadn't seen this member of the gang yet, he probably didn't do a lot of field work, a lot like Arpeggio for us. It was time to meet their technology expert, and the discotheque was the perfect place to do it, considering I was looking right at it through the window. But if I was going to talk to him, I was going to need to get rid of the guards in the room. Oh, the power of privilege. I tapped on the glass window to Dimitri's office, alerting the guards outside that I was there and when one looked at me I waved him in with my hand.

"Miss Sekhar" he addressed me. "Can I be of assistance?"

"Tell the other guards that I want them to relocate to the printing press room for the night. The discotheque isn't as important as the tail feathers right now." I said. He looked surprised.

"Yes, Ma'am" he said, hurrying out of the room. It wasn't long before they all went to the location I had given them and I slid the door open to the discotheque and headed out into the large, open room. The music wasn't as loud as it was other nights, but I went up to the DJ's booth and turned it down anyway.

"Ok, Bentley, if you need any help let us know right away" I heard Sly over the headset in my ear. "And Mirage is running around out there somewhere so be careful." I snorted to myself, as if I was something to watch out for at this point.

"This shouldn't be too hard" said Bentley. "I picked up a discussion in Dimitri's office not too long ago and all the guards were sent to the printing press room, so I won't even have to worry about security."

"Ok, just be careful out there" said Sly.

It was a good ten minutes before I head explosions from the hall that connected the discotheque to the outside of the building. I figured that the guards had turned on the laser security when they walked out, but I really didn't care because I was lounging on a couch on the second floor of the room. Communications from them picked up again as I saw a small figure enter the room.

"Hey, Bentley, how you holding up out there?" I heard Sly ask him.

"Fine, fine, I'm just fine" he sounded as fidgety as he looked, as I could seem him moving around in the shadow he was in, though I couldn't actually see the details of him. "I just need to bomb all of the pillars supporting that disco ball and I can get out of here."

"What's with taking out the disco ball?" Sly asked and I face-palmed. And he said that I didn't know what was going on in our gang…

"It's impact will shake the nightclub's front peacock sign loose from its moorings… Look, I can't talk now. I've got to keep moving, keep safe!" he ended in a panicked exclamation. He really was a fidgety little guy, even without the guards here.

When he stepped into the light, I could finally see that he was a little turtle with glasses, carrying a crossbow and wearing what looked like a safari hat. I smiled to myself at how adorable he was. He was so small that he could have been a stuffed doll. I couldn't take him seriously. He moved down to the first floor right away and walked up to one of the pillars that, even I knew, supported the disco ball. I had to wonder why he wanted to knock the peacock sign off of its moorings, but I could always just ask him. He didn't look to be carrying a lot of equipment, so I wondered how he was going to take out a support beam with that cross-bow.

I went over to one of the laser security fences and typed in my pass-code to shut the entire room's laser system down. As I perched myself on the railing just above him quietly, he pulled out a small round device, pressed a button on it and when it lit up he set it down at the bottom of the support and got out of way. There was a lot more punch in that little bomb than I expected there to be. The support pillar crumbled and the entire thing came down, all the way over to the disco ball.

"Dude!" I shouted, giving myself away. I was excited to see things blow up. "Little turtle is packing!"

I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that he shit himself, because he jumped at least a foot in the air at my exclamation. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Mirage. I'm sure Sly has told you a bit about me" I said.

"Bentley, get out of there, you can't take her" I heard Sly over the communications.

"Shut up, Sly" I said, and Bentley's jaw dropped.

"Can she hear me through your earpiece?" Sly asked.

"Bentley will explain to you when he gets back" I said as I looked down at the turtle who seemed confused that I could hear what was going on. I decided it would only be fair to let him know. "I'll turn mine off if you promise to do the same" I said as I pulled my transceiver out of my ear.

"You bugged us?" he asked and I nodded and then gestured to him as if to ask again that he shut off his earpiece. He reached up and took the small device out of his ear and shut it off, despite the protests that I could just barely hear from Sly. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

"Look at it this way, I sent the guards out, even when I knew you were coming here tonight, and if I wanted to kill you I probably would have done so by now" I explained as I tucked my small transceiver in my shirt and he tucked his into a place close to wherever he pulled his bombs out of. "You're a smart guy, right?" He nodded in response. "Then you'll see the logic in what I'm saying… hopefully… because I really don't want to get blown up tonight."

"How did you bug us?" he asked, looking at me quizzically.

"Sly seems to like close encounters" I said. "You're all hooked up to each other, so the right kind of device placed on just one of you would let me listen in on all of your plans."

"What are you?" he asked. "Sly told me that you were the thief who got to the parts before us, but you seem to know a lot about technology, too, if you can build something like that."

"I'm really not that good with technology" I said. "I've just been a sort of apprentice to the technology expert of the Klaww Gang over the years, but I got busy before he could teach me too much. That and it was never really planned that I would learn a lot about technology in the first place."

"So what do you want with me?" he asked.

"Walk with me" I said and I turned to head over to the next pillar that he had to bomb. Honestly I kind of wanted to see that huge mirror ball shatter into a million little pieces. "As I understand it, you're the technology expert of the Cooper Gang" I said as we walked.

"Yes, I am" he answered.

"I guess I'm just curious" I said. "Hypothetically, if someone was even as half as good at technological stuff as you are, what to you think they would do if they got their hands on all the Clockwerk parts?"

"Hypothetically speaking, they could do just about anything they wanted to" he answered as he laid the next bomb by the base of the pillar and we stepped back and watched it crumble.

"But what would they do?" I asked.

"If you want to know the truth, I would put a fair chance on whoever it was putting the parts back together and trying to revive Clockwerk, or worse trying to gain that immortality for themselves" he said. "I heard parts of your conversation with Sly earlier. I'm sure he told you this."

"Yeah, he explained it to me, but could they really do it? Do you think you could do it?" I asked as we approached the third pillar.

"I believe that given the opportunity I could do it. With your knowledge of hardware, I think even you could put Clockwerk back together, but making that body come to life again is another question entirely. Either way, we would rather not give anyone the chance to try" he responded.

"I think I understand, but I need you to understand something, too" I said right before the third pillar blew. "I don't want to tell Cooper this, but his words that first night got me thinking and I realized that I don't know what's actually going on. From what I've been told by you two, it sounds like these parts are just bad news altogether, but at the same time I have an allegiance to my gang and even more so to my father. I feel like I've been betrayed by my gang because I know they're probably withholding the truth from me, but I never asked so it's really my fault."

We headed to the fourth pillar, I noticed him getting a little less fidgety along the way. "I understand. We can't ask you for help, and we can't expect you to just keep out of things."

"At least not this time" I said with a hint of regret in my voice. He laid down the last bomb near the fourth support pillar and when it blew the entire ball came crashing down before our eyes. It shattered upon impact and shook the building like an earthquake, causing me to grip the railing near me for support, and left behind in its wake was a sea of glittering shards of glass on the dance floor. "Now that was pretty awesome."

Bentley pulled out his earpiece and put it back in, I assumed so that he could get a report from outside now. I followed suit and did the same, not wanting to feel out of the loop. "Wow, Bentley, we felt that all the way back here at the safe house" Sly said over the communications. "And you were right" he added. "The peacock sign had half of its bolts pop off on impact."

"So what will you guys do next?" I asked out of genuine curiosity. When he gave me a skeptical look I added "Well, you know I have to at least make it look like I'm trying to stop you."

"I'm headed back to the safe house" he replied. "We actually haven't planned what's coming next, but I know what I plan to accomplish."

"I guess I'll do my best then, because from my point of view, even hearing your communications now, it just seems like you guys blow things up at random and use the chaos to pull off your job" I said with a shrug. "Whatever you do, I guess I have my own investigating to do now. I guess I do have one more question."

"What's that?" he asked.

"What was Clockwerk like? I assume you were with Cooper when he took him on" I said.

"Clockwerk was terrifying, like a nightmare come to life" he replied. "Maybe he was more than a nightmare…"

I nodded to myself in response. "Thank you."


	5. Chapter 4 - Fools and Fountains

After leaving Bentley the night before, I went to get a good day's rest, knowing that whatever hell I was going to go through the following night would require me to be alert. I would have to say that Bentley was my favorite out of the members of the gang that I met so far. He seemed down to earth, and he had been real with me. Along with that, he and I had some common ground in technology and I had some serious respect for a little guy with big bombs. It was also a relief, I only noticed after I left, that he hadn't tried to flirt with me.

No matter what had gone down the last few nights, I knew tonight was going to be the night they tried to get their hands on the tail feathers. To help my mental health, I had put all the guards on high-alert for them. There was no doubt in my mind that they were going to do everything in their power to make my life hell whether we had some sort of pseudo-agreement or not. Neither they nor I ever said we were backing off, so tonight was fair game for all of us. We basically agreed to disagree. I headed out of my apartment and stretched. With Bentley knowing that they were bugged, they probably had a meeting in person like I had with the guards. I figured that much because all communications had been silent since I woke up.

Murray, Bentley and I sat around the table in the safe-house. Bentley was going over the plan to get the tail feathers, saying that he wanted to keep us off our communicators because Mirage had us bugged.

Mirage… that woman had me on my toes, even if it seemed like her heart was only half in the game. Part of me feared how dangerous she really was when she actually wanted to do what she was told. I managed to throw her off, but she certainly hadn't given up, and both of us made it clear that there would be no giving up whatsoever. Honestly, I didn't know what to make of her. She seemed confused and conflicted about her ties to the Klaww Gang. That had been clear when she threw a fit about being called a puppet. I still didn't know who her relative was in the Klaww Gang, but it wasn't the first thing on my mind.

The first thing on my mind was that my fight was really with Dimitri, not her. Sure, she was here to protect the parts, but from what she told me I understood that she wasn't an initiated member of the Klaww Gang and that meant that this technically wasn't her fight. My fight was with the Klaww Gang and its official members. I also had to admit that she'd kind of grown on me in the same way Carmelita had over the years. Maybe I had a thing for women who were trying to kill me or put me in jail, but the idea of having to take her down made me uneasy. It didn't feel right to let her get involved at all, and we couldn't take her with us either; it just wasn't an option. At the same time, I didn't know what to do, because Carmelita would surely show up and take anyone and everyone into custody and whether we beat her or not she was sure to be on that list. Having that relative in the gang gave her a tie that wouldn't let her just up and leave it or go against it to come with us.

"Sly" Bentley's voice broke my train of thought. "Sly are you listening?"

"Yeah" I said as I looked back up at the projector. I hadn't realized that I was staring at the table as I thought everything over.

"Did you hear anything I just went over?" he asked.

"Ok, no, but I'll listen this time, I swear" I replied.

"Ok" he said, looking a bit cranky. "Again, to pull off this heist we're going to need to get into the water tower and divert the flow of water away from the plaza fountain. Once we do that, Dimitri is sure to send out a repair man. Sly, we need you to get the keys to the truck off of him so we can drive the repair truck to the front of the building. Once in position, you'll climb to the top of the peacock sign and we'll fire the truck's winch-line up to you. Hook it on the sign, and we'll use it to pull it down. If my calculations are correct, the impact should make an entrance to the printing press room. Once it's clear, Sly, you go down and grab the Clockwerk tail feathers and we'll get the heck out of here."

"Okay, just one question" I said. He nodded for me to continue. "What about Mirage?"

"What about Mirage?" he shot it back to me.

"Things will just get messy if she gets involved. What's the plan to take her out?"

"Predictable as ever" said Bentley, to which I gave him a very confused look. "I understand your concern for the ladies, Sly, but she said she wasn't going to back off."

"What if we make her?" I asked. "Pump a few of your sleeping darts into her so she passes out and then once she's down I'll hide her somewhere that Carmelita won't find her when she shows up."

"Sly, there's no time for these things in the plan" said Bentley.

"We have to do something about her. She's not just going to let us go and Carmelita won't just let her go either" I argued further.

Bentley paused and thought for a moment and then looked up at me. "Well, the crash from the sign coming down is likely to draw her in. If you go ahead of time and scout out a good place to hide her, Murray and I could take care of getting her there before getting ready for the getaway. While you're down in the printing press room, Murray will carry her to wherever place you find."

I thought over the plan for a moment. It would have to be now if I was going to find a hiding place for her while she was still knocked out, but the more I thought over the terrain the more certain I was that I could find a place that Carmelita wouldn't be likely to look. "I'll head out now, then" I finally replied to Bentley. "As soon as I find a place, I'll let you know so you can put in a waypoint for Murray."

"Okay, you've got an hour at the most because we need to get this heist rolling" said Bentley and I gave him a thumbs-up on the way out the door. Now more than ever I realized that I didn't know the area very well, nor did I know the best hiding places that one could utilize, but I did know someone who did and that very person leapt onto the roof above the safe-house door just as I stepped away from it.

I looked down upon Cooper as he looked up at me where I crouched on the edge of the rooftop. "Just the woman I was looking for" he said with a charming smile.

"I'm not really surprised" I replied.

"I was wondering if you could help me find something" he said.

"Depends on what it is" I snorted, as if I would show him something that would potentially do harm to my mission.

"A hiding place" he stated.

"For what?" I asked. That was just stupid; asking me to help him find a hiding place when I'd be the one he'd probably be hiding from.

"The cops" he replied, which wasn't what I expected but it made me suspicious.

"And why would you need a place to hide the cops?" I asked and I crossed my arms. I wasn't really buying this.

"I meant to hide from the cops… Let's say they came in and raided the place" he suggested. "Where could a guy hide where they couldn't find him even in a raid?"

"I hope you're not getting the police involved" I said because that would just be more hassle for me.

"It's inevitable" he replied. "There's this one officer who just finds me no matter what I do to try to shake her off my tail."

"Okay, so let's say you're telling the truth" I said. "Why do you need my help? You're perfectly capable."

"But I don't know the area like you do" he said. "I'm sure you can come up with something better than I can."

"I guess you're right" I said but I still wasn't convinced. "How do I know that you're not just trying to get me alone…"

"Thief's honor" he replied and put his hand on his heart.

"Right…" I sighed and I looked around the city to see if I could remember where Dimitri had that secret hideout. It had been a while since I had been there. The hideout was in one of the ordinary buildings, but it was something that he had built in later and of course he built it in luxury. Finally, I found the building that I was looking for, over on the other side of the town, near the hotel. "Okay, you'd better keep up, and if you make any moves on me I'll castrate you" I said and then I took off in the direction of the old hotel.

I found that he could keep up well enough over the rooftops. The building that I was headed to wasn't the hotel but was actually the building next to it, called "Le Stinky Cheese." We dropped down to the street and there was a door at the back of the building that was actually always kept unlocked because no one went into the place anymore. There was nothing in there really, except the entrance to Dimitri's secret hideout. I opened the door and led Sly inside, checking behind me to make sure he could see where we were going. There was a hallway in the back leading to a kitchen that used to feed the attached restaurant before it shut down.

"Come on" I said to Sly, who was lagging behind me in the hallway, looking around.

"Sorry" he replied and followed me into the kitchen. I went to the walk-in freezer and put in the code to open it because it had an old electronic lock with a key pad. Sly followed me inside and to the back wall of the freezer.

"Okay, if you really need to hideout somewhere this is the place" I said.

"In an old freezer?" he asked and I glared at him.

"Just shut up and watch" I said as I walked over to one of the shelves, which were made to look as if the food had never been cleaned out, and I picked up a small tub of what was labeled as cottage cheese. The bottom was cut out of it and underneath it hid a small red button. When I pressed it, a click came from the back wall and a crack appeared in it. I put my fingers in the crack and pulled, revealing that the wall was a door and it lead to a steep set of stairs down under the building.

"Dimitri had this built about 5 years back" I said. I flipped a switch at the bottom of the stairway and the lights came on to reveal a gaudy room with the same couches and decorations as the nightclub. "It's not really my style, but it's off the grid and stocked for a long hold-out." I watched as he went from couch to couch, testing each one of them out. When he came to the one at the far end of the room, he put his feet up on the table and crossed his arms behind his head. "So what do you really want this place for? I hope it's not to hang out because there's no guarantee that Dimitri won't come here. I don't know if he remembers that he built this or not."

"This is definitely the one" he said to himself, wiggling to get more comfortable in the chair he had chosen. "Maybe one can never be too cautious" he finally replied after a second of silence.

I didn't want to put up with his crap. "I'm leaving" I said as I turned for the door.

"Wait" he said and he got up off of the couch and caught up to me. "Where are you going?"

"Does it matter?" I asked him, giving him a skeptical look. He opened his mouth to reply but didn't seem to have anything to say. "I thought so" I cut him off before he could find his voice. "I have things to do. Please don't destroy anything else before I'm ready. You're going to give me an anxiety attack at this rate."

"I'm sure you'll be fine" he replied and I scoffed and turned, making my way out of the secret room and pushing the door closed so it sealed and looked like there was nothing there once again. We headed back out onto the street and I turned away from him to make my way across town to the club. I had to check in with Dimitri and tell him to stay with the printing press for the night and be useful for once. "Hey" said Sly and I turned my head his way.

"What?" I asked when I really should have just kept walking.

"Can I say I'm sorry in advance?" he asked as if this had just come to mind.

"Sorry for what?" I said. "No matter what you say to me, I'm going to be the one in immediate trouble with the Klaww Gang, not you, so why don't you just go and do your thing. The only thing I would like to hear out of you right now is that you're not going to take the feathers, but I know you won't say that because you can't, so go."

He looked a bit broken at that. I had been a little harsh, but now with the hour of my demise at hand it would be time for me to face the Klaww Gang soon and it hadn't come to mind until now how bad that might be, mainly because I had never failed quite like this before. "I'm sorry" he said anyway and then he took off in the other direction. I did what I was planning on doing and headed to the nightclub.

I wasn't surprised by her outburst because I knew she was angry with me and she had every reason to be. At the same time, I knew it was partially my fault and, until she said that, I hadn't thought about the repercussions after the heist was over and we were all safely away from the cops. Now that she put it that way, I kind of felt bad for her but now wasn't the time for that because I needed those tail feathers.

"Bentley, put a marker on the building I was just in" I said over the binocucom. "Murray, when you get to the building, go to the back. There's an unlocked door there and you have to go to the kitchen inside and to the walk-in freezer. The code to get in is 8-9-4 and once you're inside there's a button hidden under what looks like a container of cottage cheese."

"Got it" Murray replied to me.

"Marker is in place" Bentley added.

I had to admit, for claiming to just be concerned for her I was going the distance to make sure that she would at least get out of here alright. Okay, so maybe I would admit that she was pretty hot, and athletic, and good at the general requirements of thieving, and okay so I might like her a little, but it wasn't getting in my way. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure I was going to do something I would later regret because she was already bent on killing me, and this would just give her more of a reason to.

"Sly, get into position" Bentley's voice came in through my earpiece. "We're going to get set up for the heist." I headed over to the front of the club to wait for the signal that would begin the end of our adventure here in Paris.

"Dimitri" I said and he jumped off his chair like I'd shocked him and turned around, ready to fight. "Calm down. I need you in the printing press room."

"What is going down?" he asked.

"The Cooper Gang is making its move tonight and I need you down there in case they take me out" I said.

"Sir, there was an explosion out by the old water tower" one of the guards suddenly announced over the radio.

"Explosions already" I said. I felt that anxiety attack coming on.

"Sir, the water fountain isn't working out in the front" came a second report just moments later.

"What? They have taken the flow out of my fountain. Get a repair man and fix the flow" he said. Dimitri and his water…

I headed out and to the water tower, but by the time I got there it seemed that they had done their thing and left already. There was really no damage to the structure other than the opening to the upper-level pipes being blown open. Again, I had no idea why they had gone up there or what the purpose of shutting off the water to the fountain was.

I heard the repair truck pull up to the plaza fountain and only moments later the guards in the area went nuts. Now they obviously knew more than I did. They were running toward the plaza fountain, which is where I thought that things were good, but now I was about as confused as I could get. I went with the flow and ran to the fountain, and as I got there the huge peacock sign came crashing down right on top of it. Orchestrating the demise of the peacock sign was none other than the Cooper gang in the repair truck. Could they really have been that well thought out? They blew up the water pump their first night here in preparation for this? What the hell kind of alien was Bentley? Now there was a hole in the ground that led right to the printing press room, right to the feathers.

"What the hell is going on?!" I screamed, gaining the attention of everyone present at that moment.

"Mirage!" said Sly, acting surprised to see me.

"Don't 'Mirage' me" I growled as I walked up to him and grabbed him by his collar. Bentley and the hippo were getting out of the truck at that moment and I glanced at them before looking back at Sly and growling "What do you idiots think you're doing?"

"Stealing the tail feathers?" he replied.

"I don't think so" I said and I tightened my grip on his collar, making to throw him to the ground. As long as I had him, I was going to end it here.

Using my body weight, I planned to spin him around and toss him on the ground where I could pin him, but as I made my move he wrapped his arms around my waist tightly and pulled me close to him. He used the motion that I had started to spin me so my back was facing the other two and then he did the last thing that I thought I wanted at that moment. He kissed me. I felt the whole brain short-circuiting, body not responding thing happening again. Why did my body betray me like this? I would quickly admit that I was no longer in control, something else was, and that something made me kiss him back like my life depended on it. What was worse, I would later admit, was that he was fantastic. My brain was so fuzzy that I barely felt the prick on the back of my neck and it was a surprise when everything went hazy. He parted from me and gazed at me as I slowly felt my body give out on me. His grip around my waist was the only thing keeping me standing.

"Sly… what…" I began and then I slipped into darkness.

When I woke up, I leapt up as if I was still in a fight of some kind, only to find myself in the hideout that I showed Sly earlier. It was the very couch that he had relaxed in that I had been sleeping on and I wondered what had happened. My memories slowly returned to me, and I remembered the kiss and then the pinprick and I reached up to feel a small bump under my fur on my neck. Bentley must have used a sleeping dart on me while I was distracted. But why did they go through the trouble of putting me out and bringing me here? I remembered what Sly had said about the cops. Did he actually care if I got caught? More so, did he not want me involved when they stole the feathers?

I made my way out to the front of the building and raised my hand against the blinding sun that met my eyes. The nightclub was silent and once I got my feet moving I headed back towards my apartment, hoping that at least my cell phone was still there. On the way, I grabbed a newspaper, immediately discovering that the front page was plastered with Dimitri's mug-shot and all the headlines were about the local drug ring and the nightclub owner being jailed, but as I looked over the paper there was nothing about the tail feathers, so I assumed that the Cooper Gang had taken off with them.

My apartment was untouched to my surprise. Maybe because I wasn't there, they didn't think that there was anything suspicious going on there. I pulled out my cell phone, which I had hidden in-between the mattresses of my bed, and looked to find that I had 38 missed calls and 12 messages, all of which were from my father or my escort. There would be a lot of explaining to do on my part, but for now I had to let them know that I was ok. I decided that calling my escort would be a better idea than my father because I didn't feel like getting yelled at right now for scaring him and I really didn't want to deal with him if he had been dipping into the spice again. Flipping open the phone, I hit 3 on speed-dial and put the device to my ear.

"What's the moonlight pass-code?" the voice on the other end asked before he said anything else.

"The wolf only howls when the sky is clear" I told him. "Kaine, it's Mirage. I need pick-up at Dimitri's nightclub."

"Mirage? We've been trying to contact you for two days. We thought you were dead" he replied.

I was out for two days? My father was probably either terrified or furious because I hadn't replied. Trouble was probably quickly headed my way. "Not dead, but I have a lot of explaining to do" I said. "When can I get a ride home?"

"I'll get the chopper and come for you myself" he replied. "Your father has been keeping us stationed close in case something came up. I should be there in half an hour."

"Okay" I replied and we said our goodbyes and hung up. It was time to go home.


	6. Chapter 5 - Home Sweet Something

"Mirage, I expect better out of you" came the gruff voice of my father as I entered his chambers. He was seated on one of the futons in the large round sitting area and I moved to kneel on the floor in front of him, our sign of respect.

"Father, I have no excuses" I replied as I bowed my head. I just hoped that he wasn't too angry with me.

"The other members of the Klaww Gang are wondering what happened. Do you care to tell me?" he said.

"The Cooper Gang came for the tail feathers. I swear I tried to stop them, father, but I… I failed…"

"Well, you are in luck my daughter, for Arpeggio does not seem concerned about your failure. He is convinced that we will recover the parts in time" he replied. I looked up at him in surprise. It was rare that I was so easily off the hook for anything. Arpeggio, the man I doubted the most right now because of my thoughts in Paris, had also been the person to let me off now that I failed, but now I was also concerned. Why did he think it would be so easy to get the parts back?

"I'm sorry Father, no matter what Arpeggio says, I still failed you" I said.

"Nonsense" my father replied. "You are my daughter and you are still learning. I am just relieved that you came back to me alive and you avoided being taken in by the police like that fool Dimitri."

"Thank you, Father" I said. We weren't a hugging family, but sometimes I wished we were. This was one of those moments where I just wanted to hug my dad.

"On to other business" he said and patted the seat next to him. I basically leapt into it, relishing the chance to get off of the floor. "This ball that is being held is not just to show off my new ancestral palace and the Clockwerk Wings, it's also to show off my beautiful daughter."

"Why must I do this?" I asked.

"Because I am getting old and you are growing up. We need to find you a proper suitor so when you take over my spice empire you have a strong, clever man by your side that you can trust" he replied. "And if you can't trust him, you can always scare him into doing what you want. I only want what's best for your future, and the suitors who have come this time are from all around the globe and all have very good breeding and high standing."

"I don't want a suitor, Papa" I replied. "In time I'll find someone on my own."

"No, this is the last time I'm doing this" he said sternly. "Now, I have given you the luxury of rejecting suitors, but over the next week of festivities you will choose one of the men here to be your husband."

"Ugh" I groaned, but before I could protest my two maids walked in and bowed to me and my father. They were a couple of beautiful young axis deer, and there were days when I wanted to chase them down and eat them.

"My lady, we have prepared your dresses for the ball" spoke the first.

"Please come with us to get ready for the night's festivities" spoke the second.

I groaned and looked to my father, who gestured for me to go with them as they wanted. With a scoff, I rose from his futon and headed down the hallway of the "guest building" to my room, which was on the far end and numbered 105. Laid upon my bed were three dresses, all of semi-traditional Indian style. The one that I automatically assumed I was wearing tonight was a very traditional sari. It wasn't anything near what I preferred to wear, but it was acceptable. The top was strapless, made of a deep blue silk and glittered with sequins and jewels along the top edge of the fabric. No one would see the petticoat, but it was the same blue as the top. As for the sari itself, the fabric had a gorgeous silver color to it, with just a little sheen but not too much, and the decorative border matched the blue of the top and was embroidered with delicate blue spice plants and swirling patterns that looked like they could be dust in the wind.

The two maids went to pick up the material when I held my hand up and announced "I can dress myself." They both bowed once again and made their way out of the room entirely. Now that I was alone, I had time to think as I wrapped myself up in the elegant cloth. My mind wandered back to the Cooper Gang. It had been over a week since I had left Paris, and my father had just announced his ball, outlining the fact that he had the Clockwerk Wings practically putting it in bold print. I hadn't caught wind of them yet, but I wouldn't have doubted that they were headed here. Part of me figured it just wouldn't feel right if they didn't at least give it a go.

"It is time to go to the ball room" one of their voices came from the hall, snapping me completely from my thoughts. "Are you prepared?"

"Yes" I replied as I draped the sari over my shoulder.

The ball room and the guest house were actually a good distance from each other. There was a bridge connecting the guest house to the main cliff-side and from there it was a fair walk to the main door of the palace ball room.

When I arrived, my father stood from his chair on the other end of the huge room and a speaker announced my presence. I noticed that the huge statue of a tiger woman with six arms had been built to look like Shiva, yet looked eerily like me, but not exact, and it was adorned with the wings, giving it a truly elegant look, yet somehow gaudy in a way that I couldn't put my finger on. Once I made my way over to my father and bowed to him, I started seeing familiar faces all around the room. One of them was Arpeggio, and the other I immediately saw was Jean Bison; two of the members of the Klaww Gang were already strolling around the room.

"Mirage" my father said, catching my attention. "If you need me for any reason I will be out in the balconies enjoying the view. I wish to watch some of the guests."

"Okay" I said and watched him as he walked away.

"My lady, do you wish us to stay at your side?" asked maid number two as I was now thinking of her. I never was around long enough to learn any of my maids' names. It felt kind of rude when I thought about it, but it was the truth. For all I knew, these two weren't even the same two deer who served me the last time I came to my father's abode.

"No, you can do what you wish and if I need you I will call you" I replied and they bowed again and headed around to help the waiters and mingle with the crowd. Part of me was kind of disappointed not to see that stupid raccoon dipping in and out of the crowd, making some sort of devious plan to ruin my father's party. Scanning the crowd I found the missing link in the Klaww Gang, the Contessa, and she wasn't alone. She had brought two of her officers with her, probably to give Interpol a reason for her to be here. "Undercover" is how she probably put it, but "invited" was the real word for what had happened. One of the officers was a lady fox in a sleek strapless black dress with a slit up one side to her hip. She had dark hair and prominently displayed her badge on a choker right over her huge boobs. Those things had to be fake. The other officer was none other than the constable Neyla who Sly had been following around back in Paris. Unlike her fox counterpart, she was dressed for the situation and not just the occasion. She was wearing an off yellow-green skirt and top which had a very traditional Indian look to it. The skirt was decorated, which was the only thing that really made it different from the petticoat that I was wearing at the moment. I envied her. She got to wear what she wanted. If it had been up to me, I would have come to this thing with my normal outfit. I also noticed that she had her hair out on display, no longer wrapped in that ridiculous head-scarf she was wearing, and it was long and black, but not quite as long or as black as mine. Still, I had to admit that she was attractive when she put on some real clothes and showed off a little.

As was usual for this type of ball, the first night was just introductions and formalities that would end early in preparation for the next day. I received a bear-hug from Jean. For some reason he had taken to me like I was his little sister. I avoided him a lot because his stench was atrocious, but I would never tell him that. He was still my friend, even if he did stink.

"So this is the daughter of Rajan." I turned to see who was speaking to me, the Contessa. This was my first time meeting her one on one, and behind her were her two officers.

"So, this is the Contessa" I said plainly and watched as her two officers looked at each other as if to ask how I knew who they were. When my eyes met hers again, she was glaring at me as if I had said something wrong. I wasn't supposed to know her, right? "Fear not," I continued, "I won't blow your cover, but perhaps you need a better one if a low-level Klaww Gang flunky can identify you. After all, many criminals know that one doesn't want to get caught by the Contessa." I looked her up and down and then said "Must be invigorating, all of those world-class criminals fleeing from you."

"It is, little girl" she replied. I was right, she was somewhat frightening, but I think it was more her face than anything. There was just something about an old wrinkly black widow that was less than appealing to me.

"Well, it's been interesting, but I must move on to greet other party guests" I said.

"We'll be watching you" she said and she and her officers made their way off of the dance floor and up to the balconies.

As I walked around the dance hall, I nodded my greetings to several guests and shook hands with several others. Many commented on my attire and many of the men who were there made it obvious they were there to be my possible suitors by trying to flirt with me. Finally, I found one more person I actually wanted to see. Arpeggio was wandering about near the refreshment table and I made my way over to him.

"Arpeggio" I greeted him. "You actually came." It was true that it was rare for him to actually make it to the events that my father planned because he was very busy.

"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see my favorite tiger, now could I?" was his response.

"Man, I didn't know you liked my father that much" I said cheekily and he chuckled at my reply.

"As quick as always" was his response. "Tell me, whatever happened in Paris?"

"The Cooper Gang happened" I said with a shrug. "They're mildly insane, from what I can tell."

"Your father tells me that his guards are more than capable of taking care of the wings and heart, so you should relax while you're here" he said.

"I wish I could" I frowned. "Papa is trying to find me a suitor again."

"Ah, then you'll be having visitors most of the week" he deduced.

"Yeah" I sighed. "He says this will be the last time, but somehow I doubt it."

"Well, if you get tired of dealing with them and need a place to hide, my room is always open" he smiled and I nodded.

"Thanks" I said and I looked around the room, there were like a hundred people between me and the door and it was probably already getting late. It had already been early afternoon when I came in and I probably had been greeting guests for an hour… how time flies. "I think I'd better start making my way out. By the time everyone who wants to talk to me on the way to the door has their say, it will be midnight."

"Well, then be on your way" he said and gestured with his wing for me to get going.

"I'll see you later" I replied and he nodded, muttering a similar goodbye.

I was almost right about getting out at midnight. It took me nearly another hour to exit the ballroom, as there seemed to be an accumulating number of individuals trying to introduce themselves to me or chat things up for twenty minutes. By the time I got back to the guest house, it was already dark and I was exhausted. My room had the most comfortable bed, though, because my father spoiled me every time I came home, so I couldn't wait to get out of these clothes and into that bed to sleep off the rest of the night in preparation for the next day's festivities.

When I entered the guest house I was greeted by several guards, just as my father made an announcement that all of the guests were now in the ballroom and they should look out for anyone outside. He really was making security tight. It was rarely this extreme for an event this size but I knew it was because of the wings. When I reached my room, I dismissed all of the guards in it, several rhinos and a couple of monkeys. I didn't need all of them there while I dressed for bed, nor did I need them there anyway. My mind was torn over whether or not I should take a shower. It took so long for my fur to dry that I just wasn't up for it, and yet I felt like I should get clean after all of the hand-shaking, flirting, Bison hugging that I had gone through in the last few hours. I didn't mind my father's parties but I preferred not to smell like them once I got out of them.

Once I had removed my sari, I set folded the cloth up and placed it in a neat pile on my bed. It wouldn't need to be cleaned just yet, but I figured the two maids would do it tomorrow anyway. I finally decided upon taking the shower that I wanted to avoid because I would rather do it now when I didn't have to be anywhere than in the morning when I would have to be dry early so the maids would have to help me try to wipe my fur dry. The setup of my room was nice. It looked like all of the other guest rooms but at the same time my father had added some flair to it that he knew I would like, along with a set of chairs and a table on the balcony. I made my way into the bathroom, which was in a small enclosed space to the right of the bed and the dressing area. There was no door, but there would be no one here so I didn't really care. My father had also taken the care to have all of my favorite shower things moved here. For a busy man, he sure knew a lot about what I liked, but since I was always gone I figured that he had probably been in my room when he missed me and he was the kind of man who paid attention to detail. Even if he was harsh to others, he had a soft side for me that showed just enough for me to notice it. I often thought it was because I was all he had left of my mother and because I was just important to him. No matter the reason, I knew that this whole finding a suitor thing was purely from the goodness of his heart because he thought he was doing the best for me even if I didn't feel the same way about it.

I took care not to take too long in the shower, focusing on getting the smell off and then getting out. It felt better being clean and putting on my normal outfit. I flopped onto my bed like a little kid. More than anything I was glad to be home. My mind drifted again to Cooper and his gang. Arpeggio didn't seem concerned about them like I thought he would be, and my father seemed forgiving of my mistake, but now my mind was in the present and I was wondering if he would eventually show up to get the wings. It felt like it would almost be fun to watch my father's guards beat the crap out of Cooper, but at the same time that didn't feel like the only reason that I wanted to see them.

As I lay on my bed, I could hear scuffling in the room next door and then some smashing. I groaned and hoped that I wasn't going to be stuck next to an over-enthusiastic couple for the rest of the week because that was as bad as the nightclub. No way was I moving this time. I would just have my father kick them out. The ruckus stopped as fast as it had begun and I sighed and rolled over, relieved that I might not have to deal with anything at all. My brain began to shut down so I could sleep and I was almost there when my door creaked open. There was someone else in here. I got up and tucked myself behind the decorative fabric of the headboard. It was the quickest hiding place I could think of and I was lucky that only the top and the bottom were attached to the wall. I waited for the culprit to come into view. Cooper.

He had parts of a tux tucked into his belt. At least now I knew what was going on. That sound I heard in the other room was him, probably ransacking the place, and the way it looked he was looking for the parts of a tuxedo. He probably needed a disguise to get into the party, that and my father had a crazy dress-code so if he had already been there he would know that he'd never get in dressed like a bum. I watched him as he stalked around my room, completely oblivious to the dresses that were on the bed, which hadn't been moved because I was too lazy to and I had every intention of sleeping on them. This was obviously a woman's room and I wondered how stupid he was going to be. His stupidity was affirmed when he started smashing things. I hopped out from behind the cloth I was hiding and sat on the end of my bed, waiting for him to notice me.

Finally he turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin. I was sitting on my bed with my arms crossed, smirking at him because he was an idiot. "Why are you here?" he asked me when he finally composed himself again.

"Oh, I don't know… I have this strange habit of sitting in rooms that aren't mine and waiting for other people to show up ransacking the place" I replied sarcastically.

He took a moment to look on the bed next to me and noticed the dresses that were sitting there. "This is a woman's room" he said.

"You're getting closer" I said as his eyes scanned over the sari that was still folded on the edge of my bed.

"This… it's your room" he said, his eyes snapped back to my face. "That's the sari you were wearing in the ball room."

"When were you in the ball room?" I asked, looking at him skeptically. "And why do you need a tuxedo if you've already been in there?"

"I snuck in for recon photos" he said. "The guards didn't see me hiding, but if you want the truth then it's that I need to get out on that dance floor."

"To observe the wings" I said.

"Something like that" he replied and I took that as the end of the situational honesty.

"So, let me get this straight" I said as I got up off of my bed and stalked towards him. "You have been ransacking rooms for a tuxedo, and by the looks of it you have most of it. You need said tuxedo to get into the ball room to observe the wings and possibly your little cop friend who is here." This statement earned a nod from him. "So all that in mind, now you're in a woman's room looking for men's clothes" I continued, glaring at him. "You ransacked my room for men's clothes" I growled. Now he looked rather nervous. "And you want me to keep your little plan from my father after destroying my things?" He nodded with a gulp, my hands were balled into fists and I took a step back from him, pacing a bit in front of my bed. I felt myself getting angrier as I looked at the things he had smashed. It wasn't the things that I was attached to; it was the invasion of my private space for something so stupid.

"I'll replace it" he finally chirped out and I turned on him and growled.

"I don't care about this stuff!" I shouted. "I care about my private space. It's bad enough that there are men I have to let in here on a daily basis. I don't need some damn raccoon smashing up my room for such a stupid reason!" It was rare that I snapped like that, but now my head felt clear and I looked at him, his ears were back and the expression on his face looked like he feared I really was going to kill him. I took a breath to calm myself down and then said "Go put it on."

He blinked and I turned away from him, moving to sit back down on my bed, cradling my forehead in my hand, still calming down. "What?" he asked me, his curiosity allowing him to recover.

"Your stolen penguin suit. Go put it on" I replied. "You can use my bathroom."

He asked no more questions and walked to my bathroom. After what happened, he was probably just glad that I hadn't killed him. I had to admit that I had overreacted, but this was probably the first time anyone had ever broken into my room. Even at the other Klaww Gang member's operations, my space was my own and no one entered it and none of them had ever been broken into.

"Okay" he said from in front of me and I looked up to see him clad in dance shoes, a white shirt with a purple jacket and a pair of white gloves. His hat was off, and honestly his hair-do wasn't half bad. Actually, was it fair to say that this was the moment I became physically attracted to him? Yeah, I think it was. He was incredibly attractive, and for a moment I remembered that I had been kissed by that. The longer I stared at him, the harder it was to look away, but my brain finally bothered to jump in.

"You need a bowtie" I said as I got up from my bed, hoping that he wouldn't be too suspicious, that I hadn't stared at him for too long.

"Do you have one?" he asked me.

"I think I do" I said. "I remember there being one over here somewhere" I said as I walked up the small set of stairs and over to my neglected dresser and began pulling out various articles of clothing, many of which actually were men's clothes.

"Hold on, I thought this was your room" he said when he saw what I was pulling out of the drawer.

"It is" I stated as I came across the very thing I was looking for, it had been buried at the bottom. It was a simple black bowtie and, like all the other clothes, it came from suitors who just weren't fast enough to get their clothes back together before I kicked them out of my room. Unwanted advances resulted in a collection of clothes. These things seemed to travel with me, they would get packed up with everything else when my father moved shop and the maids would just pack them into a dresser that was the least likely to be used. I liked to think of them as trophies at this point because I knew they most likely weren't going anywhere soon.

"Why all the men's clothing?" he asked as I walked back up to him and reached behind his head so that I could put the bowtie around his neck.

I shrugged as I started to tie it for him, my fingers working intricately to weave the tie into its proper form. "I don't know" I said, unsure of what to tell him.

"Yes you do" he said as I pulled the tie into a bow and then adjusted it so it looked straight and symmetrical.

I nodded at my own work and then walked around him, opening the door to the balcony and dismissing the guards on both the roof and the ground below with a wave of my hand that told them I wanted privacy. He had followed out after me and followed suit when I made myself comfortable in one of the chairs around my outdoor table.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Atlas Moth

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" was my response.

"Because I'm curious about you" he replied. "One moment you look like you're going to kill me and then you give me a bowtie from a drawer full of men's clothes. I can't get a read on you and maybe I want to try."

"Maybe I don't know what I'm doing anymore" I admitted. That sounded right to me. "I'm guessing you're not here because you got an invitation, otherwise you would know why I am here."

"No, we came because we found out about this by looking for the next Clockwerk parts. Rajan wasn't very quiet about having the wings" he said. "Aren't you here to protect them like you were the tail feathers?"

"Actually, no" I replied. "I've been given a break because I'm here for a different reason."

As I replied to him, I heard the door of my room open and two sets of hooves walked into my room. I walked over to the balcony doors, which I had left open, and I was greeted by the curious faces of my two maids.

"Miss, we were told that you departed from the ballroom" said number one.

"Do you need any assistance?" asked number two.

I stepped just inside of the door and replied "I am with a suitor. I will leave it to your discretion if you wish to wash my clothing from tonight, but for now I demand privacy so I may sit with this man and discuss. He will not be spending the night so you may return for me in the morning."

"Yes, Miss" they both said and bowed to me, taking my sari and garments from earlier and making their way out of my room. I then stepped back out onto the balcony.

"Suitor, huh?" Sly asked with a smirk on his face.

I sighed because now I would have to explain it. "Wait there" I told him and I went back into my room for a moment to dig out a copy of the invitation to the ball. When I came back out I handed it to him and I sat down.

"Your presence is humbly requested," he read the invitation out loud, "to attend the Grand Ball of his excellence Rajan in honor of his daughter Maya Sekhar, and to celebrate his latest achievement, the acquisition of the Clockwerk Wings. His excellence requests that suitable young men come prepared to offer their hand to his daughter in arranged marriage." He took a moment to process what he had just read and then looked up at me and said "Maya?"

"My real name" I replied.

"Wait, you're telling me your father is Rajan?" he asked, looking a little blind-sided.

I shook my head in mild amusement. "Yes, and I am here, and this party is half for me because many of these men are here to ask for my hand. Who doesn't want to marry the daughter of a wealthy spice-lord with an inter-continental trade?"

From the looks of it, I had lost him. "Wait, go back, your father is Rajan?"

"We already established that. Are you awake over there?" I asked. "Besides, look at us, can't you see the family resemblance?"

"No" he stated, still looking dumbfounded.

"You're right" I admitted. "I look a lot like my mom. Actually, I look nothing like my dad aside from us both being tigers."

"And he's trying to marry you off?" he asked, finally moving forward in the conversation.

"This isn't the first time" I explained. "We've been having these parties and balls since I turned 16. Starting tomorrow, I will likely have one to ten suitors in here each day, each vying for my affection. My father picks them and then gives me the luxury of rejecting them if I don't like them. Not many make it past the first ten minutes. Many of them have tried to make moves on me, saying that they'll prove they're excellent lovers or that they'll make me love them. That would be where that collection of clothing came from. I promptly removed them from my presence and it didn't mean that they had all their clothes when I did so."

"Well, I must not be doing to bad, I've made it more than ten minutes so far" he said.

"Are you insinuating that I have accepted you as a suitor?" I asked.

"Well, you did tell those two that I was a suitor and that you wanted privacy with me, and then you gave me this invitation to the party so now I think that means I'm invited to be one, and I think this is our first civil conversation" he replied.

"Don't flatter yourself" I said and I got up from the table and walked back inside.

"What?" he said as he got up to follow me. "What, I'm not good enough to even try?"

I walked over to my dressing area and sat down on a bench that they had provided me for the vanity, which they had also graciously provided. "What makes you think you are? What pompous reason are you going to give me that I've already heard? Do you know how many men have walked into my room and announced that they are the one for me? I have seen men of every shape and color, of every background, and of every disposition and attitude. From my point of view, I don't see you as anything more than another egotistic blowhole that has come into my room seeking my money and legacy."

"That's kind of harsh" he replied.

"Is it?" I growled as I turned on him. "What makes you different?"

He seemed to falter at my challenge. I could see the gears grinding in his head as he tried to conjure an answer, but maybe he didn't have one. After a moment or so, I turned away from him to let him flounder while I pulled out a brush and ran it through my hair. "I" he stammered and I flicked an ear in his direction to let him know I was listening. "I don't know how I'm different because I've never met the other guys" he finally said. I wouldn't admit it then, but that answer in itself set him apart already. The others had all tried to impress me, but he just admitted that he didn't know - that he was clueless. I was suddenly curious.

"Tell me, what you would do," I paused for a moment, wondering if it was right to ask this, "if you were my suitor."

"I wouldn't know what to do if I was a suitor" he said and I turned again to look at him, finding sincerity in his eyes. I realized that maybe I had disarmed him. "Look, what you said back in Paris, you were right."

"What I said in Paris…?"

"That I'm a player" he said quickly and I tilted my head. "I don't know how to be serious. I've never thought about it. I mean, I told you I was a flirt, but most of the women I've ever flirted with are the ones chasing me trying to take me to jail. I'd have to say that I'm also used to women who are pretty straight forward. I don't have to work at it to figure them out, Carmelita is like that, but you're different."

"How am I different?" I asked.

"I can't get a read on you. One minute you hate me and the next you don't seem to mind me. At least Carmelita just always wants me in jail, but I don't know what you want" he explained. "Usually the women are chasing me and all the intent is there, but for the first time I am the one chasing and I don't even know why I am."

"Maybe you were right about me, too" I said and now he was the one to look confused. "You said that I was a puppet, but before you came along I never really thought about it. Years ago, before my mother died, I promised her that I wouldn't let other people run my life, yet here I am, with my life being run for me. I just don't know what I'm doing. I'm so conflicted now. I have an allegiance to the Klaww Gang and to my father, but now I have seen that they are turning me into something that I don't know if I want to be and I think it's making me bipolar, especially around you because you were the one who made me realize what was going on."

Somehow, his little thieving adventure for clothes had just turned into a heart-to-heart for the two of us. "Do you want to be someone else?" he asked me.

I looked into his eyes and replied "Do you want to be my suitor?" His eyes widened at this and I didn't let him answer. I grabbed his hand and stood from the bench, pulling him with me. "Come on" I muttered as I headed for the door.

"What are we doing?" he asked as I shoved him just outside of the door.

"Let's try it out" I said and I was answered with a confused stare. "I mean, I'll try being myself, my own person not this Klaww Gang puppet, and you be my suitor. If you want to, that is."

"I don't know what to do" he said.

"Just do what you would do if you were my suitor" I said. "Do what feels right. After all, I've never been someone who I wanted to be so I don't know what to do either. We'll both be ourselves."

"This sounds crazy and complicated, but I'm willing to give it a shot" he replied.

"Okay, uh… well, why don't you approach the door like you've been sent here, I guess and do whatever it is you would do" I said as I walked back into the room a ways. He was right. This was crazy. What was I trying to accomplish this way? He was a player and I knew that in the end this would probably just come to a quick demise because I never could control my temper and he would say one stupid little thing wrong and I would suddenly explode.

In the middle of my thoughts there was a quiet knock on the door and then his voice "I've come to call on Miss Mirage" he said through the open doorway and I walked back over to him. He was leaned up on the doorframe at this point and he sent a quick glance up and down my body, but I didn't feel like he meant it in a sexual way, it felt like he was sizing me up to see what I was like.

"Maya" I said, and his gaze snapped to mine filled with a curious confusion. For a moment I had ruined the act. "My father tells all the suitors he sends here to call me by my real name, Maya."

"Maya" he repeated after me and something about the way it rolled off of his tongue warmed me inside. This was nothing like our first meeting in Paris when he had sickened me. What had happened to him? Or was it better to ask what had happened to me? Again lost in my thoughts, I was only brought out of this sequence of ideas when I felt him take my hand and lift it gently to his lips, placing a very soft kiss on the back of it before releasing it. "I was unfortunate to make it to the dance hall a little late. When I asked the other guests if you were there, they informed me that you had already made your way out." We were back in the act.

I turned from him and gestured for him to follow me, as I had done for so many men before. Would this one be any different? "I assume that you have met my father, then" I said as I walked over to the open balcony doors and led him outside. We each took a seat on the chairs that we had been in only a little while before.

"I haven't had the honor" he replied and it was my turn to be surprised.

"How, then, did you know where to find me?" I asked.

"I persuaded a couple of the men around here with a generous donation to their paycheck" he said. "They led me here and promised to say nothing. I hear that your father has a very strict set of qualities that he wants in your suitors. I'm afraid that I don't know if I meet all of his standards and I didn't want to risk being ruled out before being able to meet you. After all, I didn't come all this way to leave empty-handed."

This was new. I had a large number of suitors over the years but none of them had ever been brave enough to even think of bypassing my father. "Eventually you will have to earn his favor" I said.

"Right now, that doesn't concern me" he replied. "What concerns me at this moment is you and if you're what I'm looking for."

I couldn't decide if what he had just done was clever or incredibly confusing. It was supposed to be me deciding if he was good enough, not the other way around. We had only just begun and he had me so backwards that I couldn't get mad. "Sly" I said, now only having a desire to know what was going on. "Sly, is this an act?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" he replied, keeping eye contact.

"But, are these your thoughts or your character's thoughts?" I asked, still confused.

"The only thing about this that wasn't true was that I came here tonight specifically for you" he said and I felt a shock go through me as if he was being insulting, but before I could speak he continued. "I didn't come here for you, I came here for a tuxedo, but I stayed for you, and I'm here now for you."

"I've never had a suitor come to me unsure of whether or not he wanted to actually be my suitor" I admitted, now talking in a hushed tone as if this was all slowly becoming a secret.

"I'm just winging it here, but something tells me I should get to know you before jumping into anything" he replied. "Remember, I'm not very good at this."

"Do you really want to be here?" I asked, but he got the gist of what I was asking.

"If I didn't want to do this I would have run away" he said and then sheepishly added "It's what I do." My brain was lost for an answer. Sensing my silence he kept talking as if he needed to fill the gap. "I technically wasn't invited to this party, but if I was and this is what I came for then, being me, I think this is what I would have done. I've always had a problem with authority, and yes I want to try to be your suitor but I know your father would probably kill me."

Something about what he said, or how he had said it, suddenly sparked something in me that no suitor ever had. "Let him try" I said. It was that defiance. That defiance that he claimed in Paris that I didn't have, it was here now and it was here because he was. "He wouldn't do anything that would destroy the heart of his little girl" I continued. "Sly, go change your clothes. Let's do something crazy."

Somewhere in the past ten minutes, the same time it usually took other suitors to piss me off, he had cracked me. There were a hundred things that I had wanted to do since I was a little girl and there was no better time than now to do them. I didn't even give him the chance to get up, practically launching myself over the table and taking his hand again, yanking him back into my room and shoving him into the bathroom. "What are we going to do?" he asked from inside.

"You'll see" I said, but I honestly didn't know where to start.

"Okay" he said as he came back out of the bathroom with his normal clothing on and his hat, which I swiped off his head. "Hey!" he said.

"I'm taking a hostage" I said as I twirled it on my finger. "Put your suit in that drawer with the men's clothes in case those two snoopy maids wander back in here." I saw that he was holding his cane and I pointed to it and told him "Leave that here, you won't need it and I have a feeling we're both eventually going to need both hands."

He did as I asked and I pulled his hat onto my head. It didn't match what I was wearing at all, but he didn't know that I had a thing for hats, either. "So where are we going?" he asked again.

I put a finger to my lips and thought for a second. Sure there were a lot of things I wanted to do, but what ones could I actually live through? "Well, I always thought it would be fun to put a bunch of cobras in my maids' chambers but that sounds dangerous and I'm no snake charmer" I thought out loud. "But, the monkeys really hate moths; maybe we could fill their chambers with those."

"How many moths are we going to need?" he asked, as if we were going to hunt down a million of them.

"Only ten or so" I answered and he looked at me like I was crazy. "How will we transport them?" I wondered aloud.

"A box?" he asked, probably thinking that I really was crazy.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. I think there's one big enough on a handcart down by the elephant stalls" I smiled. "It's a plan, let's go."

I didn't let him reply and I ran to my balcony and leapt off of it. For a moment I think he considered just leaving because I was crazy, but then he seemed to remember that I had his hat. He ran quite a ways behind me, still not losing me, having to dodge the sight of guards that were strutting around, doing their jobs. When we got down by the elephant stalls I found the very cart that I was thinking of with a good sized box on it.

"What kind of moths are we catching?" he asked when he saw the size of the box. "This seems a little much for ten of them."

"You'll see" I said with a smile. "Grab the cart and I'll show you where they are."

"Why do I have to grab the cart?" he said.

"Because I have your hat" I said with a smile and he sighed. "Hurry up! We don't want to get caught. I don't know if I can explain this."

We had to sneak the creaky little cart back through the town and over to the drawbridge, which when I saw it was already down I looked at him. "So Murray and Bentley can get in, too" he explained.

I shrugged "Saves me the trouble of trying to open it myself."

He must have felt like we were on a wild goose chase at this point because I led him across the bridge and we took an old path up the side of the river. My father may have just bought this place but it didn't mean we'd never been here before. It belonged to mother's family and she brought us here once upon a time.

At times I had to pitch in and help Sly pull the cart up some steep parts of the trail. He once remarked that we should have picked up Murray along the way because he would have no problem with this, but I wouldn't admit to him that I wouldn't have liked that much because as we went on it became much more fun to watch those strong muscles of his flex under the strain of moving this cart. It probably took us half an hour to finally come to a small clearing rimmed with flowers and bathed in moonlight.

"This is it" I announced as I used a couple of nearby rocks to chock the tires of the cart so it couldn't take off on us.

"That was a long way for ten moths" he said, panting slightly, sitting on a boulder for a moment to catch his breath.

"These moths are special, though, and they really love these flowers" I explained. "When my mom was still alive, we used to come here with her on occasion. She used to bring me up here at night and show me the moths. I always loved that." I walked over to one of the flowers and took the stamen in my fingers, rubbing the pollen onto my hands. "They should be coming out soon" I said with a smile. "Think you can give me a hand with this?"

"What is it?" he asked as he stood and joined me.

"Just grab these flowers by the stem and shake them. It should knock the pollen into the air and it will attract the moths here when they come out" I explained, demonstrating by taking another flower by the stem and shaking it quickly, causing a yellow cloud to erupt in the air.

"Okay" he said and the two of us went about shaking most of the flowers in the little clearing until we had a veritable pollen fog going on.

"Good enough" I sneezed with a giggle. This was very reminiscent of when I came here with my mother last.

"You said your mother died?" he asked.

"Yes" I replied. "She died when I was four. Her parents didn't agree with who she married and they sent in an assassin who was supposed to kill my father, but she took the poison instead because she knew what was going on. She was from a very wealthy family and met my father on accident and fell in love. This ancestral palace is actually a part of her heritage but it's been long since her family owned it."

"She sounds like a brave woman" he commented.

"She was" I said. "Giving her life for the man she loved must have taken a lot of strength."

There was a moment of silence between us and I looked up at the moon through the cloud of pollen that was starting to settle a bit and remembered how my mom and I used to spend entire nights out here just to see the moths and watch the stars. I wasn't even sure how I remembered those things because I was so young, but the few memories I did make with her were precious to me. There suddenly came the soft fluttering of wings and the sound grew until suddenly the air above the clearing was filled with what Sly probably thought were bats because he dove under the cart. I laughed so hard at his reaction that I fell over and clutched at my sides trying to stop.

"Sly… your face…" I choked out between laughs.

"Oh, shut up" he said indignantly as he crawled out from under the cart and sat on the ground next to me.

It took me a few more moments to compose myself and then I sat up next to him. "Well, take a look around" I said with a smile. He looked around and I smiled at the look of awe that came over his face. All around us, gigantic moths were fluttering between flowers and overhead. Their presence transformed the place entirely into something magical. I loved coming here. "They're called Atlas Moths" I told him. "Now do you believe we only need ten?"

"I think ten is good" he said, still gazing around wide-eyed.

I held out my pollen covered hand and one of the ones that were currently flying about came and landed on my fingertips. It easily could have covered my hand twice over. They were incredibly beautiful. "They use the pollen's presence to sense where the flowers are" I said. "Put a little on your hands and you should have no problem catching some of them. I've got the first one."

"Maybe we should make it a race" he said.

"Oh, please, we both know I would win" I said with a smile as I stood up and walked over to the box, opening it by removing the latch that held the front of it up. I placed the huge insect inside and it seemed to sit there rather happily. When I turned around, Sly was running around trying to catch the moths with a handful of pollen, chasing them down and flailing when they flew away from him. I proceeded to walk calmly around the clearing, picking flowers as I went and then I went back and placed them into the box with the moth that was still resting happily inside. It wouldn't be very nice if we caught them and didn't give them anything to eat.

"You know, they're probably scared of you by now" I said as I held up my hand and caught a second one on my finger as it flew away from Sly and I stuck it in the box with the first.

"I can't catch one" he said as he jumped up and down waving his hand at another.

"We have a very different idea of catching" I said as I held my hand out again and yet another alighted on my fingertips. I smiled at it and started talking to it instead of Sly. "Is the big mean raccoon chasing you?" After a few moments more I finally decided to tell him to calm down. "Will you quit running around for a moment?"

"What?" he asked as he stopped and looked my way. Once he was standing still one of the moths landed on top of his head.

"See" I said and I gestured to it. "They don't want to be chased around. Let them come to you and you'll catch a lot more of them."

"Oh" he said sheepishly as if he just realized that I had been doing that very thing the whole time.

Once he had stopped running around like he was having a panic attack, we caught all ten in no time at all. Now the trick was to get the cart back down the steep parts of the trail without dropping the box and without getting ourselves injured.

"We really should have brought Murray" he said.

"We can do this" I said.


	8. Chapter 7 - Steal My Heart, I Dare You

Each of us took one of the handles of the cart and braced ourselves against it. What started out as a kind of tug of war between us and the steep part of the trail ended more with us cart-skiing down the hill, holding on for dear life until we got to the bottom. It took us a significantly shorter amount of time to get our capture back down to the town. I lead Sly with the cart to the monkey's chambers. With a finger to my lips, I pulled open the shutter on one of the windows, revealing that there was no glass underneath it. "Go to the door" I whispered as I climbed inside of the building. The monkey's chambers were nothing fancy. Most of them slept on futons or mats on the floor and had to be stepped over and around like a huge booby-trap.

When I got to the door, I had to unlock it from the inside because the outside would have needed a key but the inside didn't. Sly was standing outside and I gestured for him to open the box. When he did, I grabbed the flowers that I had stashed with the moths inside and like they were a magnet, all of the moths followed me out of the box and into the room. I quickly spread the flowers around the room and exited through the window, running around the building and back to Sly who closed the door. We both took off to put the cart back but we hadn't gotten far before we could hear the shrill cry of monkeys panicking at the revelation that their room had been filled with moths. Not only did the panic inside the guardhouse draw the monkeys in the immediate area back to their chambers, but most of the guards ran down to see what was causing such a ruckus.

"Oh, man" said Sly as we got the cart back to its original location. "They're really freaked out in there."

"Yeah" I laughed. "I always wanted to do that."

He turned and looked at me and then he stifled some laughter. I looked at him as if to say that if he didn't tell me what was going on I would kick his butt and he said "You're all yellow."

I looked down at my arm, and indeed the yellow pollen stuck out obnoxiously against my white fur. Now that I looked at him, though, he had twigs stuck in his fur from the ride back down and he was no less pollen-covered than me. "You're not doing any better" I smiled. "Come on, I know a place down in the river where we can get cleaned off."

"Oh, no" he said. "I can't swim."

"Don't be such a baby. It's shallow" I replied.

"No way" he stubbornly retorted. "I might get swept downstream."

"Well, look at it this way" I said with a smirk. "I still have your hat."

Before he could react, I took off running. I could hear him shouting his objections behind me, but it didn't slow me down. He chased me across the bridge and up the same path that we had been on earlier, but this time I took a sudden right turn into the bushes. It wasn't long before I came out into a clearing by the side of the river at a very calm and quiet place in the flow. "Okay, give it back" he said as he broke through the leaves behind me. I smiled and shook my head no as I untied my skirt and tossed it to the side, leaving me in my underwear which was basically a swimsuit. Every step he took forward caused me to take one back and very soon I was standing waist deep in the river and he was still on the shore.

"Come and get it" I taunted him.

"Maybe I will" he replied but then he just stood there and looked at the water like it was going to jump up and eat him.

"Oh, I'm so scared" I said as I backed up a little more.

"Well, you should be" he said. "You'll have to come out eventually."

"My mom taught me to swim when I was really little. It's just something about us tigers, we really like the water" I replied. "So eventually I guess I could just swim downstream."

"Very funny" he said.

"Oh, come on, Sly! It's just water" I called out. "If you get swept in I'll come get you." He gave me a look that said "yeah right" and then the water a look of disgust. "It's not that bad. I could even teach you to swim if you want."

"I don't want to know how to swim" he grumbled and sat on the shore.

"Then I guess I'm keeping this" I smiled and proceeded to clean myself off by crouching down and splashing water over my arms and body.

"Couldn't I just go clean off in your room?" he complained from his seat. I smiled at this and shook my head no, but it didn't take long for me to see that this tactic wasn't going to work and I would have to think of something else.

"Okay, you big baby, I'm coming out" I said and I waded slowly back to shore until I was just out of arm's length for him. As I predicted, when he saw I was coming close he reached out to try to swipe his hat off my head, but instead I grabbed his arm and pulled, eliciting a yelp of surprise from him followed by a splash.

I figured he didn't want his hat wet, so I plucked it off my head and threw it back on the shore with my skirt while he floundered about in the shallow water. When he finally calmed down enough to get his head above water, he took a deep breath and glared at me. "That wasn't fair" he said.

"It was perfectly fair" I smiled and I splashed a little water in his face.

He shook his head to get the water from his eyes and then glared at me. "I could have drowned."

"In a foot of water?" I asked with a smile. "You would need some real talent to do that."

"I have skills" he said with a grin which caused me to shove him back into the water again. "Hey!" he said as he surfaced and then leapt out of the water and tackled me. I wasn't really expecting to be dunked by the hydrophobic raccoon, so when I broke the surface I was gasping for air, but my gasps quickly turned into giggles as I realized that he had succeeded in dunking himself as well. We were also now in slightly deeper water than before, and I had to stand to have my shoulders above the flow. When he came up, he started flailing shouting "I'm drowning, I'm drowning!"

"Shut up and put your feet on the riverbed, Sly!" I shouted over him. A few more seconds of flailing seemed to give way to a moment of understanding and then he calmed down and put his feet on the riverbed like I said. He was slightly taller than me, I was only noticing now because of the difference in how much of each of us stuck out of the water.

"Well…" he said, unable to make a witty remark about his own embarrassment.

"I'm drowning!" I mocked him and I splashed around frantically.

"Shut up" he said and he splashed me. I shook the water out of my face and splashed him back. Soon we were in the middle of a water-war, laughing and generally behaving like children. As we flung water at each other, I got closer to him, hoping to get another chance to dunk him. When I finally did get a hold on him, we had a wrestling match in the water that somehow ended with me clinging to his back, trying to use my weight to drag him down, only he was stronger than me and the water made it hard to use weight for anything. He suddenly grabbed my knees and brought them up to his sides so now I was on his back piggy-back style.

"We're both soaked to the bone and you're coming with me" he announced and then began to push his way back to shore with me helplessly clinging to his shoulders. It turned out that those same muscles that I loved watching work; I loved clinging to while they worked as well. Now that I had to hold onto him to keep from being dragged upside down in the river, I could feel every move he made and he felt a lot stronger than he looked. I was glad we were both soaked, because if I drooled over how perfect his body was, at least he would never know the difference.

When we were back on shore he didn't put me down. Instead he bent down and picked up our discarded things with one hand and then proceeded to carry me back downstream. "Where are we going?" I asked, slightly unnerved at suddenly not being in control.

"You'll see" was his answer and he kept walking, pushing through the shrubs and leaving the trail behind. I had to bury my face in his shoulder so nothing would hit me as he shoved plant parts aside and I had to admit that I began to think that he didn't smell half bad. There was a hint of cologne buried under the natural scent of his fur and I found it soothing, so soothing that I nearly took a nap on his shoulder.

"You're really not going to tell me where you're taking me?" I asked him.

"I'd rather show you" he replied. "We're here."

I looked up from his shoulder and I was instantly awed. The clearing that we'd been in before had been beautiful and one of my favorite places because of the atlas moths, but this clearing was magnificent. Sly finally let me down from his back and I took a step out in front of him to find that the long grass was also incredibly soft. The entire ring of trees encircling the small area had some sort of blossoms on them, giving the entire outer edge a very soft look. Under the trees were more flowers. I had always been a sucker for flowers.

"How did you know about this?" I asked Sly as I turned around to face him. He was grinning.

"The gang and I found this on accident while scouting out a place for a safe-house. When you showed me the other clearing I remembered it" he explained.

"It's beautiful" I smiled. He replied with a smile of his own and then stuck his hat on his head. It was then that I realized that he still had my skirt, as he had been carrying both items the entire time instead of us wearing them. "Hey, Sly, you still have my skirt" I told him, as if to remind him. He looked down at where he had it tucked in his belt.

"So I do" he replied.

"Could I have it back?" I asked, gesturing with my hand out.

"I like you this way" was his answer and I knew that I wasn't going to get it back that easily. I also figured the easiest way to do this was by force, so I took a step towards him, but every step I took forward he matched going backwards.

"Sly" I said, a hint of warning in my voice as I continued to pursue him. He smirked at me, one of those annoying smirks that I would have hated back in Paris.

"Can't I admire you?" he asked.

"You can admire me with my clothes on" I replied as we continued our little game of chase.

"You're the one who took it off" he smiled.

"Well, I have a deep burning desire to be fully clothed again" I said, matching him with a smirk of my own. In my head I momentarily realized that I would have been ripping his face off if this had been Paris. Had I really changed so much, or had I always been like this but my father's expectations and those of the Klaww Gang overpowered my will to be myself?

"I have a similar desire to see you unclothed" he replied and I felt my body light up with a blush that I hoped he couldn't see through my fur.

"Sly!" my voice wavered in embarrassment to which he shot me a look that made my blush that much deeper. Now it changed from wanting my skirt back to needing it back and I lunged at him. He didn't even try to dodge me; in fact he actually reached out and caught me. My momentum caused him to lose balance and we headed for the ground. We rolled around in the grass, each one of us fighting to get on top, and it ended very familiarly with me getting the upper hand. I ended up sitting on his torso, straddling him to the ground as we both caught our breath. Our eyes met and neither of us could tear our gazes away from the other and he reached up with one of his hands and placed it on my face. Maybe for the first time in a long time my mind was clear at that moment. There wasn't my father's spice empire to worry about; no suitors, no Klaww Gang, and I didn't care about what happened to the Clockwerk Parts. It was just me and Sly and this clearing.

Without really thinking about it, I gently nuzzled his palm and then reached up to take his hand in mine. There was confusion in his eyes as I removed his glove and pressed my muzzle to his palm. I closed my eyes and pressed his hand to my cheek again, wishing that this moment of carelessness for me would never end. He stroked my cheek with his thumb and then shifted under me so I was once again sitting in his lap, like in Paris, but again nowhere near the same. I opened my eyes and found him looking to my lips, communicating a desire that we most likely both had at that moment, but I didn't know that I had quite yet. His hand gently slipped past my cheek, through my hair and to the base of my skull, and I didn't resist when he drew me in. I didn't resist when his lips met mine. One arm wrapped itself loosely around his neck while my other hand came up to rest on his face. Time froze. I poured my heart out into it, and he gladly received.

When we finally broke apart, mostly for air, he pressed our foreheads together and gazed into my eyes. "Sly…" I whispered.

"Hmm…" he quietly replied.

I pulled my forehead away from his and moved my muzzle next to his ear. He moved his hand that was still on the back of my neck down my spine and to my mid-back to hold me closer to him. "My father has things more valuable to him than the Clockwerk parts and his spice empire combined. If you want me, you'll have to steal my heart, not just from me, but from my father. I dare you."

"Stealing things from other thieves is what I do" he replied and placed a gentle kiss on my neck.

I smiled to myself and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "Just be careful" I told him.

"Yes, Mom" he retorted sarcastically.

I chuckled at his remark and then rocked my body backwards taking him with me so that I was lying on the ground under him. At first he looked a little surprised, but then he hoisted himself onto his elbows so that he wasn't putting his full weight on me and stared down into my eyes. I wrapped my tail around his leg, simply to do so. It was so comfortable, just being there with him; I didn't want to leave but I knew that soon I would have to if I was going to get up at all in the morning. My mouth opened to say something, but then he rested his head on my chest and put his weight on me, and just like that he had become the most comfortable blanket that I ever had, even if our fur was still damp from the river. He wasn't heavy; he probably didn't weigh all that much more than I did, but he was warm and that was suddenly all I cared about. I wanted that moment to last forever.

"Hey, Sly, where are you?" Bentley suddenly broke the silence between us over one of Sly's many communication devices.

He groaned audibly and rolled off of me to pull out that pair of binoculars that he always had hidden away on him. Putting them to his eyes he replied "What, Bentley?"

"You've been gone for hours, we were starting to think you'd been caught" the turtle replied. I propped myself up on my elbows, mildly annoyed at the interruption but I figured it had to happen sometime.

"Yeah, something like that" Sly replied and he reached his free arm over and slipped it underneath me, using it to pull me over to him and flip me so I was laying on him now. I didn't resist his advance; I just placed my head on his chest and listened to the beating of his heart.

"What do you mean? Are you in trouble?" asked Bentley.

"If Mirage is trouble, then trouble certainly found me, but I don't think 'in' is the right word here" Sly joked and I felt that ever-present blush come back because I knew what he meant.

"You need to get back to the safe house soon" Bentley nagged. "We need to start making plans for tomorrow."

"Bentley, calm down" I finally said, cutting off Sly before he could reply to him. "I have to go to bed sometime so I promise I'll return your thief in one piece."

"Well, so you know what's going on, Sly, I'm going to send Murray out to take care of the surveillance helicopter" informed Bentley.

"Okay, just let me know if you need any help" said Sly and he put the binoculars on the ground next to him. "It's Murray, he won't need any help" he commented.

"What are those anyway?" I asked gesturing to the device at his side. "I take it Bentley gave them some kind of name when he whipped them up."

"They're my Binocucom" he said.

"Ah, so a communication device in a set of binoculars" I replied and closed my eyes.

"Well, Bentley made it possible to project waypoints through them, too, so he can send us to the exact place we need to go" he explained.

"Hmm…" I mumbled as I snuggled closer to him.

"I think I broke you" Sly said as he wrapped his other arm around me. "You haven't threatened to kill me since you found me in your room, and you're… well…"

"Cuddling" I finished his sentence.

"Exactly" he said. "This is weird."

"To be honest, no man has ever taken this approach with me" I said.

"What approach?" he asked. "If you're talking about the flirting, I'm sorry I've tried to keep it under control…"

"No, it's ok" I said and I propped myself up on my elbows so I could look at him. "I think it's just that the way you first approached me was so different. The others walked in with confidence and ego and all told me how perfect they were, but you didn't do that."

"Normally I would have" he informed me.

"But you didn't" I said with a smile. "I don't know, but I think it was that very first impression that made me look past everything else." I paused and took a second to think over my words because there was something still bothering me. "Sly, how do I know that I can trust you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking alarmed as if he did something wrong.

"Well, you told me that I was right, that you were non-committal, and that you were a flirt. Not only that, but you're technically my enemy. How can I trust you not to hurt me?" I asked. "How can I know that you'll ever be serious?"

"Maya" he said and then he didn't seem to know how to go on. "I can't guarantee anything."

I hung my head at that because I should have known all along that tonight was just too good to be true. Maybe we were both just acting still and we would wake up and this whole night would just be a huge mistake. I started to get up; I didn't want to continue the charade if that was all this was, and he didn't try to stop me.

"Maya" he sounded panicked. I was already sitting with my back to him at that point, so I looked back over my shoulder at him. Was he going to say something? Would he wait for me to say something? We just stared each other down for a moment, his face caught in an expression of loss.

"Sly" I finally broke the silence between us. "You know, you walked into my life and flipped everything I knew on its head. One day I was completely confident in my gang and in the way I had grown up and the next I felt out of the loop – like there was some grand scheme going on behind my back and it involved my best friend, who didn't care to inform me of what was going on. Suddenly I was lost, but once I started thinking about it somewhere inside of me I was grateful to you for opening my eyes. Your gang opened my eyes. I guess… you broke me back in Paris already but I was just being too stubborn, too hell-bent on being like my father, to let myself see it."

He was silent again for a minute or so and then he finally said "I think you broke me, too." The expression on my face changed to surprise and he continued "Like I told you back in your room, you're the first woman that's ever had me so backwards that I ended up doing the chasing. Carmelita wants me in jail. She wants to shoot me with her shock pistol and haul me in, and her feelings for me wouldn't matter because she's a cop. It would take a miracle or a huge trick of some kind for me to be able to hook up with her and not be in jail at the same time. Because I knew that I couldn't have that relationship, I became a player as you so gently put it. I flirt with her because I can but I never thought anything could happen, no matter how much either of us wanted it to, because we don't have that miracle, and her motives for chasing me have always been the same. Put the criminal in jail and have a personal vendetta for him because he's really good at getting away." He sat up from where he was and put his hands on my shoulders, holding me gently so I couldn't turn away, not that I wanted to. "Even Constable Neyla" he said. "She's just another cop hot on my tail. But you're different. I'm used to women like that coming after me and giving me the open opportunity to flirt with them even though they want to put me away. You aren't like that. One moment it was like you wanted to kill me, and I sensed a chase coming on, another woman on my heels trying to get rid of me, but then you backed off. When I tried to approach you got angry, like you didn't care what happened to me as long as I didn't bother you, but then the next time we met you would be civil towards me and before long, you had everything I was used to flipped on its head. Like I said, I couldn't get a read on you so I started chasing without even realizing I was doing it because I couldn't figure out if you actually cared that I was trying to steal from your gang or not, and you never reacted the same way twice to my flirting. When we first met you were going to dismember me for even trying to touch you, but then that night… I never expected you to kiss me back."

"To think that the man I would choose would be my enemy and that there would be no guarantee that he wouldn't break my heart" I said, feeling cold, my gaze dropping.

"Maya" he said again, getting my attention once more. "I said I couldn't guarantee anything. I never said I wouldn't give it a serious try. Neither one of us is 'normal' for the other. "

"If you break my heart, my father will kill you" I said. "It's rude to steal something only to break it."

"Then I'll handle it with care, like the most expensive loot I've ever seen" he said.

"We should both be going" I said, feeling as if this night had come to a frustrating end. I just wanted out. "Bentley is going to have a heart attack if you don't get back soon, and my father expects me at the ball most of the day and there will be suitors tomorrow night. I need my rest."

I stood and turned away from him, ready to walk away when he said "Hey." Curiosity got the better of me and I turned his way. "You're forgetting something." He walked over and pulled my skirt out of his belt. In a surprisingly quick motion, he had it around my hips and tied it for me. His hands then moved to my hips, and despite wishing I could just leave I did nothing to discourage him. He pulled me close to him, so our bodies were touching, and very gently pressed his lips to mine. "There" he said finally. "You're woman I have given the single most kisses to willingly and not intoxicated."

Something about the way he said it, in an almost comical way, lightened the dark cloud that had been cast over me. "Will I see you at the ball?"

"You can count on it. You, me, and the dance floor and it's a date" he replied.

"Don't be late" I said, a gentle smile coming over my features.

"I'm never late for a date with a beautiful woman" he smirked but something about this flirting didn't bother me.

"I'll see you then" I said and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and did something that I hadn't yet. I finally initiated a kiss and he didn't disappoint, responding just as eagerly as he did when he was the one starting it. After we broke apart, I couldn't help but smile again. "Oh, and come early. Around 6 o'clock should do. You'll probably like to see what's going on." Before he could ask any questions, I left, leaving that poor confused raccoon to figure things out on his own.


	9. Chapter 8 - Evacuate the Dance Floor

After I left Sly, I bagged up his clothes and left them outside on the balcony along with his cane along with a note that read "See you tonight." He would come around eventually, but I didn't want to collect his things so I made it easy for him. I also locked the doors to the balcony. There was no doubt that he could pick the lock without any trouble, but I was hoping that he wouldn't try and that he would respect the distance that I put between us at the end of the night. It wasn't that I didn't like him or that I didn't want him around, but I just needed time to think about what had happened, how we acted, who I had been. Unfortunately I wouldn't get that time in the morning.

"Miss, it's time for you to get up" one of the maids called from the door and when I didn't respond they both came in and stood by my bed.

"What time do I have to be at the party?" I asked without opening my eyes, hoping they would get the hint and go away.

"Your father has requested you make your entrance at 6 o'clock" one of them answered.

"And what time is it now?" I asked, flipping over so my back was to them.

"8 o'clock in the morning, Mistress" the other replied.

"Come back and get me at noon" I said and I tucked myself into my blankets tighter than before.

"Breakfast is ready, Mistress. You should go and eat." They were really trying here.

"I don't want to go and eat and if you insist upon me eating then you should bring food here for me and leave me to eat at my own leisure. I am tired and I insist upon sleeping, for I will need my energy tonight. If you do not leave then when I wake at the time of my choosing I will make you my breakfast" I said, a dangerous edge to my voice.

"Yes, Mistress" they both said at once and left.

Rajan was just starting his meal at the table when the two young deer came into the dining hall and proceeded to get a tray and plates and fill it with food.

"Where is my daughter?" he asked them.

"She has insisted upon staying in her bed, My Lord" said one.

"She has also insisted upon us taking her breakfast to her room and waking her at noon" the other added.

"She did, did she?" Rajan said and stood from his morning meal. "Leave the food. I will take her breakfast. She and I need to have a talk."

I was snoozing lightly when someone sat on the edge of my bed and set a tray on the side table. Immediately I assumed it was one of those two maids of mine trying to wake me again.

"Who said you could sit in my bed?" I asked grouchily, having been stirred from my light sleep.

"I believe that I have the authority to do so whenever I want" came the voice of my father.

Shocked, I sat up and looked at him. "Papa" I said and he held up his hand to stop me.

"I was informed that you left early last night, before anyone else" he said.

"I was tired" I tried to explain.

"But then why are you insisting on sleeping in? Surely after leaving the festivities so early you got enough sleep?" he asked. I opened my mouth, looking for any excuse, but he continued. "Do not lie to me, my daughter. We both know that Atlas moths do not just come down into the palace grounds to torment the monkeys."

"Haha…" I said, glad that he hadn't figured out more than that. "Yeah, I guess I kind of have to admit to that. No one else knows where to find them in those numbers."

"You stayed out late to pull a prank on the monkeys" he said and brought his hand up to rub his forehead. "You've only been home for a day and you already insist upon causing trouble. I know you don't like these events, but it doesn't mean you can go about causing panic. I have enough problems to deal with right now. Last night the surveillance helicopter was destroyed without warning or explanation."

"I'm sorry, Papa" I said. "I won't do it again; it's out of my system."

He nodded and took a deep breath, and for a moment it was quiet, but then he suddenly became alert. "There was a man here" he said.

"I don't know what you mean" I said, acting as if nothing had happened.

"I smell him, Maya, do not lie to me" he said, his expression being overcome by anger. "I sent you no suitors last night. Who was he?"

"He snuck in" I lied. "He must have followed me after I got done putting the moths in the monkeys' quarters. I swear, Papa, nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?" he asked, enraged. Perhaps those were the wrong words to use. "Guards!"

Two rhino guards came into the room quickly as if there was an emergency "Yes, Sire!" they both said at once.

"Who was the man who was here last night?" my father asked.

Fear washed over both of them. "Miss Maya dismissed us last night and said that she wanted her privacy" one of them said.

"Leave!" my father roared and turned to me. "What did you want your privacy for, this man?"

"No, Papa, it was so that I could sneak out unseen to pull the prank I wanted to do before I went to bed. I tell you, he followed me back. I didn't want him here and he even told me that he hadn't gone by you first" I explained.

"Then why did you not inform the guards to remove him?!" he demanded.

"I didn't want you to know, Papa!" I yelled. Now that I was yelling, he backed down. "I can handle myself. I don't need guards. If I brought them in for every suitor who tried to violate me then I may as well have the meetings with guards all around us." His eyes widened. I never told him about the problems I had with my suitors. He just assumed that I didn't like any of the ones that he had chosen so far. "Papa, I can't even count the number of them who have tried to force themselves on me, but this is what you wanted. You wanted me to find a man to be my husband, and so I didn't want to tell you and worry you because I could handle it. I didn't want to burden you."

His mouth hung open, now. "Maya, you should have told me. I would have stopped this madness or sent guards with each man."

"I don't want guards, Papa, and you want me to get married so I should at least try to meet these men you send to me. Maybe one of them is the right one" I argued.

"Maya" he said and he took me by the shoulders. "Do you truly want to continue this?"

I nodded "For you, Papa. I want to find someone so you don't have to worry about me. Besides, you said this is the last time, right?"

"I did" he said.

"Then let it be the last and neither of us will worry about this again" I said with a smile. My eyes then moved over to the plate of food. It was heaped with all sorts of good stuff, but way more than I could eat. "I take it I interrupted your breakfast" I thought aloud. "Why don't you help me eat mine, Papa, there's way too much here for me."

My father gave me a rare smile and grabbed the tray, pulling it between us. It had been a long time since we had breakfast in bed or spent time with each other like this.

Sly looked between Murray and Bentley and said "How do I look?" He gave the jacket of his tux a tug to emphasize it.

"Just great" Bentley said without looking up. He was a little miffed at Sly for blowing off the second part of his mission the night before.

"I'm sorry about the mission, Bentley" said Sly. "But I can still go tonight. It's not like the party is going to end tonight before I get there and Mirage gave me some important information and an invitation so if I'm asked I'll at least have that."

"True," said Bentley. "But now all of our plans have to be pushed back a night."

"It will be worth it, just trust me" Sly smiled.

"Well, you'd better head out for the ball room. It's almost 5:30 and you need to scout things out before whatever will be happening at 6 o'clock" Bentley replied.

"Okay, I'm on my way" said Sly and he headed out of the safe house, all made up in his disguise and ready to do some dancing.

I looked at the second dress that now was hung up on the mirror in the bathroom. It was gorgeous, but I knew what it meant. My father always had a beautiful and somewhat traditional belly-dancing outfit picked out for me the second night of these things because it was time for me to show off my "talent" as if that was the only one I had that mattered. I would admit that I loved dancing for the crowd because it was something my mother had always wanted me to do and one of the few things that my father actually let me choose to do, but at the same time the connotation behind it was degrading. This dress, again, was dark blue. The top went on more like a high-worn vest. Its back consisted of a strap of fabric that would go across the back of my neck and one that would go across my back. It was designed to be as short as what I usually wore, and it fastened in the front below my breasts and at my neck, leaving a wide opening in the center of my chest. There were no sleeves, I liked that, and honestly I couldn't say it was that much different than what I usually wore. From there, a strip of fabric about an inch wide clipped into the middle of the front. It would be partially responsible for holding up the skirt, which I slipped on next. The strip of fabric was actually connected to the skirt, which was a bit different from what I was used to. It was roomy, good for dancing, but the hips of it were pretty much missing. What remained of the sides of the dress was fitted nicely so it wouldn't slide or move and then there was a slit down the front of the skirt from my left mid-thigh, just where all the decorative sequins and coins on it ended, to the bottom of the free-flowing fabric. From my just above my lower hip to about my belly-button the fabric made a sharp dip to go from being an inch wide to wrapping around me. The back of the skirt was the same way. While the skirt itself came down to my ankle in the back and to my lower calf in the front, I was still uncomfortable showing off that particular part of my body. There was also a thin belt that came off of the fabric strip holding the skirt up that went around my waist, adding extra flair and support. The entire thing was covered in sequins and beaded tassels. I had to admit that it was a beautiful dress but it was just a bit too revealing below the waist for my tastes.

"Mistress? Are you decent? May we enter?" asked one of the maids from the door.

"Yes, come in" I called, feeling a little bad about that crabby comment I had made about eating them. They had been fidgety since then.

"You have a half an hour until your arrival. Would you like us to do something with your hair?" one of them asked.

"No!" I shouted a bit too harshly. I hadn't meant for it to come out that way, there was just a reason I always left my hair down. One I hadn't ever told anyone. "I mean, no, I'm fine" I amended my statement. "Besides, it will take us a half an hour to walk there with the distance my father has the guest house from the ball room."

I quickly found the matching dark blue slippers that were meant to go with all of my outfits for the week and slipped them on. For the first time since these things started I was nervous and I knew what had changed. Sly was going to be there. Not only that, but I lied to my father about Sly having been in my room. The more I thought, the more nervous I got. If I didn't calm down I would lose my mind. Before I knew it, we were already there and it was five to six. As I walked across the dance floor to join my father by the statue and his throne, I looked around to see if I could find Sly in the crowd, but I didn't see him. Part of me took a deep breath of relief and part of me was infuriated that he didn't show up when I asked him to.

"Father" I said with a bow as I approached his side.

"Ah, you're here just in time" he smiled. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be" I smiled back.

"Can I have everyone's attention" my father called out in a booming voice. Everyone stopped and looked our way. "My daughter has arrived and has agreed to treat us with some entertainment."

The dance floor cleared and a circle formed around the center of it as I walked out. I took up a pose with one foot gracefully out in front of the other and started with my hands in the air above my head as if holding something and then I gave a nod to the band to start and then dropped my gaze to the floor. They started with a very slow beat and little flair. My hips were the first thing to move along with the one foot that I had extended in what was called a hip drop and kick. After kicking my foot twice, I switched feet for two more kicks before both the music and I took a pause as if time had frozen. It was at that moment that I drew my eyes up to the crowd to see Sly had just pushed his way to the front and was now staring at me in awe. Fear struck me, but somehow it just made my resolve and determination stronger. This was my talent, my secret talent, and I was about to come out with it with courage and spirit.

I had arrived at the party early enough to look around for escape routes and important figures, but I hadn't seen Maya yet at that point and it was nearing 6 o'clock. She said she would be here, and I was honestly looking forward to whatever surprise she had for me, unless it was a trap. For a bit I gave up on looking for her. After all I thought she might be hiding trying to spook me or something crazy.

"Can I have everyone's attention" a deep male voice suddenly silenced the room from the front. "My daughter has arrived and has agreed to treat us with some entertainment."

Everyone began to move so there was an opening at the middle of the dance floor but of course I was wandering around in what seemed to be the part of the room with all the tall people and when they gathered around to see, they completely shut out my view.

"Excuse me" I said and I began slipping in-between people, pushing my way through the crowd as things got tighter. Music started and I had a feeling I was going to miss out but I was getting close. As I shoved my way through the last row of people, separating two of them by pushing them out of the way and then moving through the opening just as the music stopped, my eyes caught on the very woman who I had been looking for. Her eyes were downcast and she had her arms over her head, one leg extended, and she was in the sexiest dress that I'd ever seen on a woman, and I was thinking this after already seeing Carmelita. When she brought her gaze up from the floor our eyes met and I could have sworn she was shocked to see me. Did she think that I wasn't going to show up? For a moment our eyes locked and then I could see the fire that lit inside of her. The music began again abruptly and she went into her routine with fervor.

I couldn't even describe what I was seeing except to say that she was beautiful. Her hips and stomach seemed to move independently from the rest of her body as she performed dance moves that I never knew anyone could even do in real life. The way she moved her feet made it appear as if she wasn't moving them at all, instead she was gliding across the dance floor. I couldn't help myself, her every move was hypnotizing to me, and I probably looked like an idiot staring at her slack-jawed as the drums seemed to command her muscles. My eyes just couldn't pull away from the movement of the sequins that decorated her skirt right under her hips and I just hoped she wouldn't catch me staring at her like an idiot before I could regain my composure, but when our eyes met again it was like she had singled me out of the whole world. Holding my gaze, she began to dance in my direction, never blinking, and when she reached me she held out one hand and pushed my mouth shut and then as she turned away from me to continue she brushed the tip of her tail past my nose.

When she got back to the middle of the open floor, the drums picked up to an incredibly fast pace and she began to shake her hips keeping in rhythm with the drums. It was amazing that anyone could move their hips that fast. Again I found myself staring as she picked up the pace but her head and shoulders didn't really move at all. It was official that she was an incredible dancer. Suddenly the drums hit a few strong beats, breaking out of the roll they had been in, and with each beat her body jerked still as if being controlled completely by the music. First she would pop her chest out and back in and then her stomach would do the same, followed by her hips popping from side to side, all isolated as if she was a robot. She repeated this with the music several times, the entire dance coming to a climax. The last few beats were strong and loud and after that her movement ceased entirely as if she was a statue which signaled the end of the performance. Shortly after the pause the silence was broken by applause and she bowed to her audience. Many of those who had been watching came up to compliment her on her performance and shake her hand and suddenly I found myself lost in the wave of people who all wanted to see her.

After the performance, not only was I out of breath but everyone came to me to give me praise for how I looked and danced. It didn't take long for it to start to feel a bit claustrophobic with everyone closing in on me so I quickly excused myself saying that I needed a drink after all that work and made my way out of the crowd still accepting kind words as I went. Again, just as before, I couldn't see Sly. He had been lost in the crowd. With a shrug I made my way over to the refreshment table, sending my father a short nod and smile once I could see him again without all those people crowding me. He replied with his own nod, one of the ways that he would show approval of my work, and then he also went to mingle with the guests, most likely scoping out a few suitors to send my way. I poured myself a glass of punch, hoping that it would ease the burning that had just set into my throat as a result of the physical strain but as I was about to take a sip a hand landed on my shoulder and nearly made me jump out of my skin. Before I could turn and slap the culprit, the familiar scent of raccoon filled my nose.

"Sly…" I gasped and I turned to face him. He was dressed in his stolen tuxedo and he was quite charming now that I could see him in full use of his disguise.

"That was some performance" he smiled. "I can see why you wanted me to come early."

"I'm glad you liked it" I replied and took a sip of my punch.

"If I remember correctly, we had a date" he said with a smirk.

"That we did" I smiled.

"So, can I have this dance?" he asked and he held out one of his hands for me to take.

"You may" I replied and reached out and took the hand that he held out to me, setting the glass of punch in my hand on a table nearby as he dragged me out onto the dance floor.

After my performance, the music had returned to the musician's normal selection of waltzes and slow dance music. There were a few couples on the dance floor enjoying a slow dance. Sly dragged me out to the middle of the dance floor, which was currently vacant and in plain sight for my father, who was now sitting on what I liked to call his "important chair." I could see that this man who had asked me to dance had perked my father's interest. He leaned forward in his seat as if to get a better look at what was about to happen. We stopped and Sly turned to me with a gentle smile on his face. He held out his hand as the new song started and without hesitation I took it, allowing him to pull my body close to his.

"I hope you know how to tango" he muttered in my ear.

"Sly, after learning to do the dance I just performed, the tango is child's play" I replied, smiling to myself.

"Good, then you won't make me look bad" he said, a hint of joking in his voice.

"I think you should be more worried about making me look bad after what I just got done doing."

His response was to gently tug me away from him, shooting me a smile as he placed one hand on the small of my back and then offering the other out to me in a surprisingly graceful manner. I took it and proceeded to put my hand on his shoulder, each of us turning our heads to look in the same direction at the other end of the dance floor. It was only moments before the next song started and it was perfect for what we were about to do. There was almost an instant change in atmosphere as we both became serious about what was going on. Before we even really began, we already had an audience. Most of the individuals who had been watching me dance before were now interested in why I was back out on the dance floor and who this mysterious man was who had dared to ask me to dance.

With the new audience gathering, I worried for a moment about Sly and his reaction to the attention, but before I could get another thought out he directed me with his body to begin dancing. I was amazed that he was able to lead so easily, finding quickly that the cunning raccoon was actually an excellent dance partner. For a moment I was taken aback by it, almost forgetting that I was supposed to do something as well, but his lead was so well executed that my body did as he instructed, even without me knowing that it was what needed to be done. I was ensnared by him, even without looking at him. Soon, I was more than just bent to his will - I was completely under his control.

More people gathered around to watch us and I became increasingly aware that I had nothing to do with what was occurring on the dance floor, it was all Sly. In a small attempt to gain back some ground I tried to focus, but the attempt itself broke the rhythm my body had created with Sly and I tripped over my own foot in the process. Luckily for me, Sly made my slip up appear to be intentional by dipping me when I lost my balance. We made eye contact and he smiled.

"Careful" he whispered. "Wouldn't want anyone to see you mess up after that last amazing performance."

Normally I would have had a smart retort ready for him, but when our eyes met I was captured again by him. There was just something different about him now. I was in my element and he was perfectly a part of it. Not only was he here at my father's party, but he was dressed the part and danced better than any partner I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. There was something warm and reassuring in his eyes, even as he grinned at me so deviously, and it made me relax and allow him to take the lead.

He brought me back up from the dip, reasserting his grip on my waist, and led me back into the steps of the dance. We took a few steps and he spun me around before taking a few more. By now we had the attention of pretty much everyone in the dance hall, including my father and Jean. It was probably the first time I was ever nervous in front of a crowd, and I figured it was because I knew I wasn't in control of the situation. We entered into a short sequence of two steps, pausing to look back between them, and after the second step he spun us again before taking another step and then gently stomping his foot to bring us to a temporary stop. I took the split moment of stillness to look at his face once more, finding an incredible amount of confidence shining behind his eyes.

My glance his direction didn't last long as he led me into the more upbeat part of the dance. There were more kicks and steps along with a lot of spinning that I normally wouldn't lead my partners into but he had this all under control. It was like the rest of the song sped by and I didn't even realize how close we were to the end of the dance because I wasn't really thinking about it. When he suddenly dipped me low to the ground and held that stance, I realized that the music was ending. He slowly brought me back up to my feet, holding my gaze the entire way. I also now realized for the first time that I was slightly breathless. He had really thrown me for a loop. I had no idea that he could dance like that and I hadn't expected him to take so well to the kinds of crowds I was used to.

"Sly…" I breathed finally, making sure to keep my voice quiet. "I didn't know you could dance like that."

"I'm just full of surprises" he said with a chuckle, and then he took my hand in his and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it.

"Thank you for the dance. It was quite enjoyable" I said with a slight curtsey, and then I spared a glance at my father, who was now making his way over to us through the crowd.

"Maya" he said as he approached us. "You have yet to introduce your newest dance partner to your father." I tensed up, worrying that he would recognize the scent of the raccoon as the one that he had sensed in my room earlier that very morning.

Sly turned to the tiger before him and started to speak. "I'm sorry, Sir… my name is…"

"Thomas" I cut Sly off.

"Thomas Hastick" Sly finished.

"And where has a talented young man such as yourself been hiding all these years?" my father asked, turning to Sly.

"Britain" he replied. At least I knew that Sly could handle himself on the fly.

"Have you taken an interest in this man?" my father asked me straight out.

"I haven't known him long enough to either take interest or leave it" I replied smoothly, hoping it would throw my father off the trail before he was even on it.

"Well, then I suggest that you two get better acquainted. I would like him to be your next suitor candidate and I await the results" my father gave me a rare smile before bowing gracefully to Sly and then turning to walk back to his throne.

Once he was gone, I gawked at Sly. "That went well" he said cheekily.

"Oh the irony" was all I could choke out. "I thought we were going to get caught for sure."

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Well, I almost forgot that my father knows your scent. We tigers can have pretty powerful noses and this morning he picked up on you in my room" I explained. "Lucky for us he was too distracted by your brilliance to notice" I added sarcastically. "If I'd have remembered sooner, I would have tried to intercept him before he got to talk to you."

"Well, he didn't recognize me and now I have his approval" said Sly with a grin to match his name.

"Surely that isn't the only reason you came here" I replied.

"No, I have to get the attention of a certain officer that's hanging around here in disguise because it would be better for us if both she and the crowd were distracted while we pull this thing off" he said. "But to get her attention I'll probably have to dance with someone she knows, so my options are down to Neyla."

"Oh, you wound me" I said, placing the back of my hand to my forehead dramatically. "Was I not good enough?"

"You were wonderful, but Carmelita is picky" he replied. "And I would prefer it if you weren't in the line of fire when we pull this thing off."

"You're too cautious" I said. "Go, dance with your officer Neyla, and then your Carmelita and cause destruction as usual" I chuckled, waving him off.

"Care to join me later for some destruction?" he asked.

"That sounds lovely" I said with a smile.

"After I dance with Neyla, we still have a bunch to set up before the heist" he said.

"Well, go then" I said and I pushed him. "I'll probably retire for the night soon."

"I'll take that as an invitation."

"Goodnight, Thomas" I said, purposefully using the name I'd given him.

"Goodnight, Beautiful" he replied, leaving me to my own devices and thoughts.


	10. Chapter 9 - Rage

There was no reason for me to stick around to watch Sly's dance with Neyla, nor did I really want to. I went to my father and excused myself for the night before heading back to my room and changing into more comfortable clothes. It wasn't really clear if I should expect Sly to show up or not. Not much time had passed since I had left my room for the party, either, so it was about nine o'clock and I decided the best way to pass the time until I got tired was to sit on the balcony and rest for a bit.

Just when I thought I would get some peace and quiet, bombing started on the other side of the palace grounds. My keen eyes spotted a small green helicopter, the design of which could only have been due to one person, the one it looked like, Bentley. I soon found out what he was trying to destroy, too. My father kept a jeep run by a couple of the guards that acted as ground to air protection for the palace which had missiles of all sorts to shoot down any devices trying to launch an aerial attack. As I watched the events unfolding, it was pretty obvious that whoever was driving the jeep couldn't even do that, as they were being taken down by a small helicopter. There was a slightly larger explosion and the helicopter took off as fast as it could as smoke began to float up from the location of the explosion. My father was definitely going to be twice as paranoid in the morning.

I took a seat and put my feet up, then laid my head back to gaze up at the stars. The sky was slightly cloudy as usual, but with the sun just having set, the twilight was beautiful. It reminded me of the time I would spend in this very palace with my mom as we stargazed and she would teach me about the constellations and the mythology behind them. She even once told me that someday there would be a constellation up there for me. It was hard to believe now. I wondered momentarily what she might think of me if she was still alive. Besides becoming everything she had asked me not to, I now had the feeling that I was defying my father directly, but after what Bentley had said back in Paris, were the Clockwerk parts really something that should be kept around? Besides, the only truly defiant thing I had done so far was to give Sly that bowtie and honestly he was going to find it anyway if he had ransacked my room while I wasn't there, so I didn't think I had betrayed my father yet.

Again, my mind wandered to Arpeggio and the movement of spice. I still didn't understand what his goal was, and seeing him in the ballroom had answered none of my questions, while bringing up a ton more. Why wasn't he concerned about losing the tail feathers to the Cooper gang? More importantly, without Dimitri's operation intact, the spread of spice would slow and interrupt business for the Klaww Gang, and especially since one of the members were caught, I was sure that we would start losing allies soon because they wouldn't want to get caught working with us. Did any of this matter to Arpeggio at all? Was spice distribution even his main goal? And who wanted spice anyway? I had seen the terrible effects it had on my father over years of continuous exposure through his spice operation. Not only had I seen them, I had felt them. He would have fits of rage induced by the spice, and they terrified me. Part of me really did wish that the operation would shut down so that my father would cease to be the monster that the spice could make him.

Taking this all into account, along with my pseudo-relationship with Sly, did this all mean that I wanted the Cooper gang to win this fight? It would get my father away from the spice, and allow me to be the person I wanted to be by freeing me from the Klaww Gang's clutches, but honestly, how did I feel about this? Self consciously I sat up and brushed my hair so that I knew it was covering my back. It was truly the first time in a long time that I got to sit down and think like this, but it wasn't about to last long, as I laid my head back again and looked up to find none other than the mischievous Cooper boy looking down at me from my rooftop.

"Fancy meeting you here" he said with a grin.

"I would never expect me to be on my own balcony" I said sarcastically. "Done dancing and killing ladies already?"

"There was no lady killing" he said as he dropped down off of the roof.

"What are you here for?" I asked, noting that he wasn't in his tuxedo right now.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get out for the night again" he said.

"You're asking me on a date?" I replied, slightly stunned that he would ask at all.

"I guess" he said. "That is, if you're up for helping me get some things for my gang's big heist and I know it's your dad and all…"

Wasn't I just thinking about this? As they say, speak of the devil and he shall appear. It was pretty much now or never in my mind. Defy my father and help the Cooper Gang or turn this down and stay the obedient child he loved so much… and watch him waste away under the influence of the very spice he was so proud of. "What do you need?" I asked, buying myself a little more time to think.

"I was going to start by getting the rubies off of the headdresses of Rajan's prized elephants because Bentley needs them to create a saw that can cut through the welds that are holding the Clockwerk wings to that statue" he explained.

My ears perked up at the notion of sabotaging the statue. I honestly had come to hate that thing in the two nights that I had seen it already. It was like a big reminder that I was going to take over this whole operation someday because it looked so much like me. That, and I just found it creepy that it looked like me. I felt like I was constantly staring myself down… it's a complicated feeling. "What's the plan?" I asked.

"Uhh… well… I was going to find the elephants and figure it out from there" Sly admitted sheepishly.

"No plan… okay" I said. I guess it couldn't hurt to help him out a bit. Besides, it wasn't like I was going to steal the wings for them or anything. On top of that, it seemed a bit unorthodox and impossible. There was no way they would get those wings out of there without a miracle, so I figured it would amuse me to entertain the idea. Not only that, but it was fun to pull pranks around here and my father would probably figure it was me who had done it anyway, may as well make an honest man out of him. "I'll help" I said with a smile. "Do you even know where they're kept?"

"Kind of" Sly replied. "Bentley gave me a marker on my Binocucom."

"It'll be faster if you follow me" I said. "But don't lose me or you'll have to catch up on your own."

"As if you could outrun me" he replied, puffing his chest a bit.

"I wouldn't be making any bets" I said with a smirk. "I kind of live here."

"That doesn't mean anything" he retorted.

"We'll see about that" I replied and I leapt off of my balcony and onto the rooftop below. The street would be quickest, but my father had beefed up security since the helicopter was shot down, so we would have to be careful not to run into any guards. I didn't want to get caught with Sly… and Sly probably didn't want to die.

After we crossed the bridge connecting the guest housing to the main complex, I took my tactics to the rooftops. There would be fewer guards up there, and honestly the monkeys were really stupid and they would be easy to chuck off the roof before they could figure out who I was. With the help of an overhang, I leapt easily onto a bridge over the lower walkway and then with the help of another, I was up on the roof. Sly was keeping up quite well, actually. I didn't really care who won, this was just going to be fun for me anyway because I had no intention of actually helping Sly get the jewels.

Using a lantern suspended between the roof and the balcony for the dance hall, I leapt across to the open area of the balcony but quickly noticed, of all things, a monkey standing guard. I dove behind a chair before he saw me, intent on taking him out myself, but then I heard a "thunk" and a small whimper and I peeked around the chair to see that Sly had taken him out with his cane.

"I figured you don't want your dad knowing" he said.

"Yeah… thanks" I replied as I got back up and looked around. After seeing where I was, I headed for the other end of the balcony, and leapt off of it onto the roof below and then onto the ground. Here was a building just like the rest but with big doors and a set of steps going up to them.

"This it?" asked Sly.

"Yeah, my father keeps them in here" I replied. "How do you plan to get them out?"

"I have no idea" he shrugged.

"Get on the roof" I told him. "It will just be a moment."

He did as I said and I got down on the ground and crawled through a small drainage vent in the side of the stairs. I knew that it led down under the elephants because as unsanitary as it was I still would hide there now and again for various reasons. Usually they were pretty good with noises, but I knew what would set them off. They hated growling, mainly because when my father would growl they knew they were going to get hurt. I figured the quickest way to get them out was by scaring them, and then it wouldn't look like someone just let them out. After taking in a deep breath, I let out a fierce growl, as fierce as they came for me anyway, and then covered my head as I was suddenly in what seemed like an earthquake and I hoped that the wooden floor above me wouldn't give way. They smashed their way out of the building and into the streets. There were only two, but they were some super strong elephants.

As soon as they were out of the building I got out as quickly as I could, finding Sly still on the rooftop looking puzzled as to how he was going to do this. "Have fun" I said with a grin. "And, you're welcome."

"What, you're not helping?" he asked.

"I just did" I said, gesturing to the elephants that were now rampaging about. "Besides, I don't have any fancy tools to get the gems off with and the guards will probably be chasing them. It's best that I don't get caught, right?" I gave him the most innocent look that I could under the circumstances and he groaned.

"Yeah" he said. "Ok, I'll go get them."

What ensued was what I considered to be the second best night of my life. I climbed a nearby minaret and sat up above the fire it held to watch as Sly ran around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get the gems off of the headdresses of the elephants, who didn't care much for his existence or for him jumping on their saddles. To keep from laughing too loudly I had to cover my mouth because it was just too funny when he had to scramble to catch up with one of them, and it was funnier to watch the guards trying to chase down the scared beasts and instead get run over by them and flattened to the ground. After what was probably a good thirty minutes of spastic running around on the part of everyone involved, Sly seemed to have all of the gems and the guards finally got the situation under control. As they were putting the elephants back in, I sighed and laid back.

"Princess" Sly's voice cut through my newfound silence.

"Don't call me that" I said as I sat up again and looked at him. "Here I was so impressed that you really do know how to entertain."

"Haha" he replied, looking exhausted.

"Sorry" I said, feeling a bit guilty that I had allowed Sly to take on that chaos on his own… he looked terrible now.

"It's fine. I wouldn't want you to get hurt, anyway" he replied.

I tried to be mad that he implied that I was weak, but I couldn't because he was just so damn cute when he was this worn out. "Hey, let's go down to the river for a bit" I suggested.

"Do I have to swim again?" he said fearfully.

"That was not swimming, what you did, and no" I replied with a smile and slid off the top of the minaret and waited for him to join me.

It was practically just a hop and a skip down to the river where I wanted to go, but specifically off of the main wall there was a boulder just within leaping distance that stuck out of the water where the riverbed dipped into a short waterfall. I leapt out onto it and Sly followed with ease. He plopped down on his back immediately after sitting, and I hung my feet over into the waterfall.

"So what other tortures does Bentley have planned for you tonight?" I asked.

"I'll ask when I'm ready" he joked and he hung one of his arms over his face.

Absentmindedly, I began to play with my hair, pulling it over one shoulder to braid it as I recalled all of the fun I just had.

"Maya?" Sly asked, and the tone of his voice made me freeze. "What happened to your back?"

I was so comfortable with Sly and so zoned out that I had completely forgotten the engrained habit of keeping my hair over my back. "Uh" I started, but I didn't know how to continue.

He reached out and gently touched my right shoulder, where the top of the scar ended and traced its path down my back. I kept my hair down at all times to hide this. It was something that I didn't want to think about and that I wished didn't exist, and I didn't want others asking about it either, but I knew that I couldn't get out of this now.

"Who did this to you?" he asked.

It was a long scar, extending from my top right shoulder to my lower left back in one straight sweep. The only thing was it wasn't just one scar; it was four. Four long lines extended themselves across my back keeping an equal distance between each other but not exactly the same length. It was a claw mark. The fur had never grown back where my skin was actually sliced open and it left four very obvious lines to anyone who could see my back.

"Maya?" he asked again, seeming scared by my silence.

"It was my father" I said with a sigh.

"Why?" he asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It was a few years ago" I said. "My father had been at his spice operation for weeks supervising the installation of a new grinding wheel that would increase production by two hundred percent. I usually stayed at a hotel nearby or with Arpeggio but this time he had decided that I was old enough to come along and help with the supervision, only he didn't think I was old enough to actually supervise the spice wheel. He wanted me to oversee the packaging and shipping of a large shipment of spice to one of his buyers because he would be too busy to do it himself, so I did. What happened that day wasn't my fault. It was an accident on everyone's part. Because the spice needed to be moved out of the forest before it could be loaded onto a truck and sent out, we used elephants to move it. One of the workers dropped a bag of spice, which didn't seem like a big deal at that very moment because very little escaped the bag. The big deal was that the spice cloud that came out of that bag blew into the face of the elephant we were working with. None of us knew that such a small amount of spice could enrage an elephant so much. There was no warning, it just went crazy. It broke the ropes we had it tied up with and took off in a blind rage right off the cliff… with three fourths of the spice shipment strapped to a cart still tied to it.

My father, who had spent all his time in the days before this in the factory working directly in what I could call a cloud of spice, came out to see the racket and then saw what had happened. I don't think he would have been so enraged if it wasn't for the spice in his system at the time, but all I could think was that I was going to die. It was like he wasn't even himself anymore. He was just so blindly angry, just like the elephant, and he took it out on me. I was supposed to make sure that shipment made it safe and on time to the buyer, but instead it had been dumped off the cliff on my watch. It started with yelling but it wasn't long before I saw him raise his paw and I knew what was coming. I turned my back to protect myself, but he sliced through my skin like it wasn't even there. The worst part of all of it was knowing that he had done it because of the spice. It took months to heal properly, and even then the scar remained and the fur never came back so I've always hidden it, partially because I know that it hurts my father deeply to see it and partially because I don't want to be reminded of the rage that the spice causes in him. It was terrifying. I didn't even know him at that moment. He hasn't allowed me back to the actual spice operation since that day. I think he's terrified of hurting me again in his spice induced rage."

"How can you defend the spice when you've seen what it does to your father?" Sly asked, and I shrugged.

"I guess I did because it was my papa. I loved him and what he wanted was right… wasn't it?" The question was more directed towards myself than anyone.

"Maya, do you feel like it's right for your father to be in a spice induced rage all of the time?" Sly asked.

"No" I said. "Sly, more than anything I never want to see him like that again, it's why I've never fought him when he told me I would never go back there. After all, what happened that day caused him more pain than it ever caused me."

"Then help us" Sly said.

I turned to him and gave him a confused look. "How will helping you get the wings stop my father's spice operation?" I asked.

"I don't know" he said. "But if you help, I would be willing to help you stop your dad from hurting himself any more."

"By what? Getting him thrown in jail? Oh, that would be fantastic" I said sarcastically.

"I'll think of something" he insisted.

"If you come up with a plan that I actually think will work then I will actually help you, but stealing the wings won't do anything for him except enrage him more. They have nothing to do with the spice operation" I replied.

He looked like he was about to say something, but his Binocucom went off and he pulled it out and looked into it. I didn't listen at all, instead I kicked at the water and tried to think about something other than Sly now knowing my secret. But it was also then that I thought about the wings and that honestly I didn't know what it had been like for Sly to come up against the being who probably rightfully could be called his mortal enemy. Did Clockwerk really terrify Sly that much?

"Maya" Sly said, breaking me out of my zone and I looked back at him. "I have to go, the guys are going in to hack your dad's computer system and they need some backup against the guards."

"Sly…" I started, but he stopped me.

"I don't expect you to come along" he said. "Besides, if the guards saw you they would tell your father. I won't make you risk that."

"Sly…" I tried again but he once again cut me off.

"Look, all I'm asking is that you don't rat us out to your father. Can I trust you to do that?" he said.

"Yeah, on one condition" I said.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The next time we get time, I want to hear your story" I replied. "You've already heard all of my sap storied about my father and when I was young, now I want to learn about you, and especially what Clockwerk was like."

"It's a deal" he nodded and then took me by the chin and kissed me gently. I was rather stunned by this, even if it wasn't the first time, because he always managed to catch me off guard.

"Be careful" I said as he turned to leave.

"Don't worry about me" he said with a smirk and then he leapt off of the boulder and back onto the pathway to the palace ballroom. I didn't know what he was up to, but it was probably better that I didn't know. It was time for me to head back and get some sleep anyway. Who knew what kind of mayhem tomorrow would bring and I wanted to be at least aware enough to not get caught up in it.

I went back into my room through the balcony of the guest house as to arouse the least suspicion for the guards inside who probably never saw me leave. As I turned and latched the doors shut, I heard a grunt which caused me to freeze in place.

"Sneaking out again, I see" my father said. "What were you doing?"

"Okay, you caught me" I replied. "I was with Thomas." It wasn't completely a lie.

"Why do you feel it necessary to lie to me?" he asked.

"Papa, why do you think I'm lying? Is it so wrong for me to go out with a man who could very much be my chosen suitor before being sure that I want him?" I asked in reply.

"It would not be so wrong, if what you were saying was true. I was informed by the guards that you were seen with a man who was not, in fact, this Thomas that we both so approve of. What do you say to that?" he said.

"They must have been seeing things" I chuckled nervously.

"They reported that he was a man in blue with a hat and a cane" my father said. "Do not lie to me Maya!"

"I'm sorry!" I said as I fell to my knees in front of him, something that just came as instinct when he was angry.

"Why would you do this to me?" he asked. "It was reported that the very same man stole the jewels off of my elephants' headdresses. Why would you help him?"

"He caught me alone on my balcony and threatened me" I said. "He told me that if I didn't help him he would kill me."

"And you did not call the guards, you did nothing. You did not fight, and you did not run even though you probably knew this area better than he did. Your reasons are weak. First your failure with the tail feathers then the pranks on the monkeys and the scent of a man in your room, and now this. You give me more reason every passing minute not to trust you out of my sight" he said. "I think it is for your own good that you be confined to your room while not at the ball. I will be posting guards to keep an eye on you and if you leave it will be reported to me, along with all visitors that you get. Tomorrow I will come myself to escort you to the ball and you will remain at my side until this event is over."

I hung my head. It was actually rather expected that my outbursts would eventually cause something like this, but it particularly hurt that my father had just told me that he didn't trust me anymore. Without another word, he stood and left the room, leaving me on my knees and wondering why I got myself into these things. Somewhat depressed, I crawled into my bed and curled into a ball. There was no reason to even try to leave right now, so I wasn't about to bother. Most likely, I would see Sly at the ball tomorrow and I could warn him then not to try to see me because my father was watching. I simply closed my eyes and let sleep take me, hoping that the next day would not bring the mayhem that I so expected it to bring.


	11. Chapter 10 - The Mayhem Tomorrow Brings

Breakfast was delivered to my room the next morning, and the monkey who delivered it sneered at me as he did so.

"What's your problem, guard?" I growled at him. I wasn't feeling much like getting mistreated at this time.

"It's about time you were caught" he replied. "Gallivanting around at night with that thief, you're a disgrace to the Klaww Gang and to your father. I saw what you two were doing. I've been watching you all along. You're disgusting."

"You ratted me out" I said with a snarl.

"You deserved it" he continued. "You're lucky. If I was your father I would have had you banished or killed for your disloyalty, but still you are allowed to live here, under simple lockdown until the ball is over, like being grounded. It angers me that someone like you gets to be in such a position of power within the Klaww Gang. You do nothing but cause messes and torture us guards. You're an ungrateful brat and what's worse is that you get a part of the spoils even if you've done nothing to deserve them, while those of us who actually work get measly pay and a bunk house to stay in. You're just a spoiled princess who gets her way because she's the daughter of the spice lord."

I glared at him in pure hatred. "Unluckily for you, you are not my father, and my father is the spice lord, who is the man you work for, and therefore you also answer to me." I advanced on him with teeth bared. "If I wasn't on lockdown I would kill you where you stand for your insolence."

"You can't kill anything. You're just a soft, pampered, little girl who has never done anything to deserve the life she has been given" he replied. "I don't fear you. You're weak."

"Fool" I growled. "Leave my presence because if I see your face for one moment more I will remove your lacking visage."

He huffed and turned to walk out of the room, checking over his shoulder to make sure that I wasn't following him or about to pounce on him. It seemed that after all he was just a coward who was given a bit of power by the situation. I glared at the tray of food. Even though I was hungry I wasn't about to eat it. For all I knew he had poisoned it. My stomach protested as I left it there to rot for all I cared. I heard laughter outside the door and slammed my fist into the wall. This was ridiculous. I never thought that my father's men hated me so much, but they didn't hate me… they hated that I had more privileges than them and they thought I did nothing for them. This was absolutely juvenile. Worse, I wasn't allowed to dismiss my maids if they came, either, so now I had to deal with the two of them.

Nursing my bruised knuckles, I headed over to my bed and laid down, curling up into a ball under the covers, head and all, wishing that the sheets were some kind of real barrier between the world and myself. It was all just unfair and crazy.

"Where is she?" came a voice from the door, even though it was muffled by the blanket I knew it had to be my father or a guard. I really didn't want them to know where I was if they were too stupid to figure it out, but I moved my tail out from under the sheet and flicked it anyway to let them know so that I wouldn't get into more trouble.

"Maya, come out of there" the voice was clearer now and obviously my father's.

"No" I said. "Not unless you have something terribly important that gives me a reason to leave my prison cell." My tail now flicked on its own out of irritation.

"Maya, stop being unreasonable" he said.

"Unreasonable" I huffed. "What's unreasonable is being imprisoned in my own room for being seen with a man who your stupid guard couldn't identify, and may I mention that I have half a mind to kill him because of the way that he spoke to me earlier. He threatened my life and because of that I won't eat that food on the table unless I get it from someone who hasn't wanted me dead. Apparently I'm not very liked around here and all of them are getting a good laugh out of my punishment."

"Maya…" he started, and I felt him sit on my bed.

"Don't try to be nice to me now, Papa" I growled. "You let some asshole guard who wants me dead decide for you that I'm disloyal."

"I don't like him much either" my father admitted. "I've known for some years that he stalks you whenever you and he are in the same complex together, and he's had the audacity to report to me with detailed reports of your movements that I never asked for."

Now I was really mad, and I threw the covers off of myself and sat up. "Not only did you listen to him and let him decide for you but you've let him stalk me all of these years? I can't believe you!"

"Maya, it was because of the close eye that he keeps on you that I trust his word but if what you say is true that he threatened your life then I shall look into it" he said.

"I'll do more than look into it. Let him near me again and I'll kill him myself" I said.

"I wouldn't blame you" my father said. "Consider that permission."

"Papa…" I said, not expecting him to be understanding in the least, but he was my father.

"Now, onto business" he interjected. "Tonight I will be coming to escort you to the ball room so you need to be ready by five o'clock because I do not want to wait for you to clean up before we leave. In the ball room you will remain at my side, even if your Thomas shows up to talk to you, you will remain with me."

"As you wish" I said and I laid back down, defeated.

"I will send in a new tray of food for you with a guard that I trust" my father said.

It felt like forever before he came back for me that afternoon. I had taken the time to get dressed for the ball. It was something a little more casual than I usually wore, and a lot more like my everyday outfit. A gold collar necklace that covered almost my entire neck, a halter top belly shirt and an elaborately decorated skirt was what my outfit consisted of. Tonight we were mixing it up, though, as this was a emerald green outfit. I also wore a gold arm cuff on each of my forearms, giving a flashier look to my more simple approach, and my left arm had an elaborately decorated band around the bicep. To finish off the whole look, I had a capelet that connected to the shoulders of my top with two gold clasps and matched the color of the outfit. It extended down to just below my lower back, so it covered up my scar, and because it did I had my hair braided with a gold ring holding the end of it and I had a very simple gold tiara. This look was something entirely new for me. I didn't care for jewelry or putting my hair up, and I certainly didn't like to look flashy so this was very out of the ordinary, call it rebellious.

At five o'clock sharp my father came to my door and I was already prepared for it. He seemed surprised at my punctuality but pleased as he held out his arm for me to take.

"You look radiant, my daughter, I approve of the change" he said.

"Thank you, Father" I said, not making eye contact.

From there on the walk to the ball was silent and awkward. He and I had nothing to talk about, and I was still mad at him, as I was sure he was with me. Being mad at each other and having nothing to say to each other was going to make for a very long and strange night. I just hoped that Sly wouldn't see me and try to play hero.

Once we were in the ball room many people came to greet us before my father took a seat on his chair of importance and I stood at his side like some kind of slave or servant. The obedient daughter was my character tonight and I would have to play it well if I didn't want to get confined permanently to my room for the rest of my life. I received many compliments on my new formal wear, including one from that purple tiger cop who finally introduced herself as Neyla. A few men also approached me but found themselves to be too intimidated by my father's massive presence to stay long. I was actually surprised that my father was trying to push men away from me at the moment. It was obvious to me because every time one would approach his mood would completely darken and he would obtain this terrifying aura. Did he really like "Thomas" that much?

I had a feeling that things were going to get strange when Sly turned up without warning on the other side of the room and slowly made his way over to us. "My Lord, My Lady" he greeted us and bowed slightly in respect.

"Ah, I was wondering when you might arrive" my father said with a slight smile on his face. What was with the nice kitty all of the sudden?

"I couldn't miss a chance to see the beauty of your lovely daughter" he said to my father and then turned to me. "Miss Maya" he spoke delicately as he took my hand and kissed the back of it. I had to do everything in my power not to blush as he was doing this right in front of my father.

"It's a pleasure to see you again" I said, slightly curtsying to him.

"You look radiant this evening. May I say you've taken a slightly different approach than the last two nights?" he asked.

"You've taken notice. Let's say I was breaking the norm tonight" I replied with a smile.

"Well, that color is absolutely perfect for you, and the gold is a gorgeous accent to an even more gorgeous body." I swore all the blood in my body was going to my face now. "May I?" he asked as he gracefully took a large ring out of his tuxedo and held it out to me, getting down on one knee as if proposing. "It seems to me that you've neglected something."

That was quite obviously a tail ring, and a beautiful one at that. It was gold and carved with roses, the petals of which were inlayed with diamonds. I'd never been given something so stunning before. "Y-yes" I stammered, and I swung my tail around so that he could put it on. It had a hinge and a spring so that it could be opened and clasped back shut again, assuring that it would be easy to put on, and it fit snugly around my tail so that it wouldn't slide or fall off but wouldn't pinch or cut off circulation. It was like he had taken measurements or something while I wasn't paying attention. I was breathless. The ring wasn't nearly as heavy as it looked, and I brought it up into my hands for a moment before bringing my tail back around behind me to show it to my father.

"Such a graceful gift for my daughter, it is quite beautiful," he commented, "and very thoughtful. I approve."

"Thank you" I whispered. It could easily be said that I was stunned to the point where I was losing my voice.

"Anything for such a ravishing and perfect young woman" Sly replied.

I had to resist the urge to hug him. Sure, suitors had tried to offer me things in the past but nothing quite like this. It was as if the gold ring was humble yet extravagant at the same time, and the way he had offered it to me had been nothing short of chivalrous. If I had been the fainting type I probably would be on the floor.

While we had been conversing, a guard came up behind my father and whispered in his ear. My father looked shocked but quickly covered it up and responded "What? The bridge is destroyed? Take all the manpower you need and look into it."

The guard nodded and left quickly, leaving just the three of us again.

"I would hate to be rude, but I need to be excused for a moment" said Sly suddenly. We both looked at him for an explanation. "There is a woman out on the dance floor who requested a dance from me late last evening but I needed to postpone it for I couldn't help but want to see the beautiful Maya one last time before the night was over."

"It would be rude not to honor your word," I said, "right Father?"

"Correct, my daughter" he replied. "Please, go and honor your word to this woman. I would relish any chance to see a talented man like you dance again, and then perhaps you could spare yourself for another dance with my daughter."

"Of course, Sir," Sly replied, "I would relish being allowed to dance with your daughter, who certainly outshines any other woman here."

My father nodded in reply and then Sly gave us both a short bow before straightening his tuxedo jacket and moving out onto the dance floor to capture the attention of none other than the big boobed fox in the black dress. She seemed rather stuck up from watching her responses to him, but who was I to say anything… she probably wasn't grounded right now. As their dance began, the entire crowd became captivated by them and I wondered if this was how it had been when they had been watching me dance with him the night before. It seemed that she was a talented dancer, but I wouldn't try to even bring myself to admit her talent was anything like mine. Instead, I found myself bored by the dance in front of me and began to pick at my nails. It was only moments later that I could hear a whirring and very quiet high-pitched squeal behind me. That was when I realized that they were in the middle of their big heist right now. Sly was a distraction, so that must have been the hippo behind me. I really should have tried to remember his name.

It didn't take long before the sounds behind us stopped, and I was shocked that my father's acute hearing had never caught anything going on. He was just as captivated by their dancing as the audience was. Finally, when their dance was over there was a lot of clapping and I watched as Sly slipped a rose and a calling card out of his tuxedo behind him. She must have asked for his name, because he smirked at her. It was then that my father had been in the midst of turning to me to comment when the statue caught his eye. He stood abruptly and shouted "The wings! What happened to the Clockwerk wings?!"

"Cooper!" I heard the fox shout as she shook her fist in the air, calling card and rose clasped within it. "Okay, everybody freeze!" she shouted, obviously taking her anger out on the crowd. "Interpol!"

Now I looked around to see that Jean Bison was already gone, along with Arpeggio who seemed to disappear during the dance, and the Contessa and the cop Neyla were both standing at the edges of the crowd, Neyla with her whip out and now the fox had pulled a blaster out of some place in that dress and I didn't want to know where. Panic ensued, with the vast majority of the people in the room being in fear of getting caught by the law. Sly was long gone, and so were the wings. I was snapped out of my thoughts by my father's hand on my shoulder.

"We have to go" he said.

"Okay, lead the way" I replied, not knowing his escape route quite yet.

Of all places, the hidden entrance to the underground tunnels was behind that wretched statue. I was kind of glad to be leaving that thing behind now. The tunnels were set up as a maze, making it as hard as possible to follow us. They actually dated way back to ancient times when this palace was built, but because we used to play hide and seek here, it was quite easy for us to find our way. My father had told me but never shown me the newer route that he had dug to take us deep into the jungle behind the palace and to an escape vehicle that would remove us to his spice operation. I actually dreaded going back there, remembering what it had been like to go there in the first place, but it was a much better option than being arrested and placed under the custody of the Contessa, who was still one scary old lady.

After running for what seemed like half an hour, we finally came up to a ladder that led up to a hatch. My father went up first, opening the hatch and pushing aside the coverings that kept it concealed, and then I followed, taking his offered hand to pull myself out of the hole. I took in my surroundings to find that we were actually almost a mile away from the palace now. Once again, my father knew more about what was going on than I did. We were only a few yards away from a large cliff and my father lifted up a hollowed out stone to reveal a button that he pressed and part of the cliff face opened to reveal a hidden jeep.

"Come on" he growled as he opened the door and ushered me inside. I couldn't help but be nervous and terrified as we pulled out of that small hidden space and into the jungle terrain, heading in the direction of a place that I really didn't think I'd be going back to so soon. I looked out the window to the canopy, once and a while catching a glimpse of the stars which were proof of how late it had become. It also occurred to me that I hoped Sly and the rest had made it out of there unscathed.

"Father, what will we do without the wings?" I asked.

"The wings were nothing" he replied. "The heart of the spice operation is literally that, the heart of Clockwerk. It is being used to increase spice production. Do not worry, Child."

If we still had part of Clockwerk then Sly would undoubtedly find out about it and show up eventually. Besides, he had a couple of promises to keep and one that I already thought was pretty close to impossible to accomplish. I must have fallen asleep because I couldn't remember most of the trip to the spice operation, but when I awoke and found us coming up on the edge of the somewhat cleared land the temple was placed on, I felt like I died a little inside. The place hadn't changed at all. It was still a huge abandoned temple made spice operation and it was still gloomy and grey. Workers were hauling spice and there was an elephant running a radar dish.

Once we were at the complex, my father led me up to the upper levels of it and to the side of the cliff it seemed to be carved from. There was a hole there that led to his office and off of his office was a door that led to a second furnished room.

"Here" he said. I recognized it immediately as the room he had me stay in the last time I had been here. It even still looked the same as when I had left, mess and all, because I didn't have time to clean it ever while overseeing that shipment that eventually gave way to crisis. The only thing new about it was new clothes in the wardrobe, and that my old ones were gone. It became apparent that over the years my father had actually planned on bringing me back here but he never actually did it. Still, he had made sure the things I needed had been provided and there was evidence that this wasn't the first time he had gotten new things for this room.

There were no windows, but it was quiet and I liked that about it. Perhaps I would get some decent sleep for once. Even though I didn't like being here, I had to accept it. There was no other place for me to be right now, and at least I was safe here with my father watching over me. I wondered if his strict grounding of me would still apply now that we were in a different setting but didn't dare test it while he was in such a terrible mood. It didn't sound like a good idea to poke the angry tiger, so I went to my futon bed and laid down on it, curling up into the clean bedding and soft pillows for hope of some of the first sleep that I had in a long time.


	12. Chapter 11 - I'll Go First

It had been a few weeks already and there was no sign of Sly or his gang anywhere, and as it turned out my father wasn't being as strict with me here and I believed it was because he didn't want to be around me and the spice at the same time for fear that something similar to before would happen again and he would regret it deeply. Because he wasn't confining me to anything, I found myself wandering the treetops a lot, watching to see if Sly would suddenly turn up. I avoided working with the spice operation like the plague and spent a considerable amount of time mapping the operation out in my mind while I wasn't being rained on. Even though the environment wasn't all that different from the area that the palace had been in, it always rained here and it was gloomy and depressing and I wanted to leave more than anything.

Due to the terrain and always being in the trees, I found myself favoring the capelet and hair braided look. It was both practical for keeping my hair out of my face and out of the various twigs and branches that were everywhere and I found that I actually liked how it had looked. Tonight was a lounging kind of night, and that was what I was doing in one of the trees above the main entrance. I could see everything moving from here and this tree more than the others sheltered me from the rain, so I actually liked to spend time in it. By now I had all of the guard movements nearly memorized so when I thought I saw something out of the ordinary moving towards the temple I was immediately alert. Soon after I saw that, a guard near the waterfall on the side of the temple was suddenly gone.

I slid down the side of the tree, using some of the vines to keep myself from just falling off. From the ground maybe I could see more clearly what was going on. Perhaps Sly was finally here, but I couldn't get too excited yet. It could just as easily be one of my father's competitors again trying to get at the goods. Speaking of my father, I hadn't seen a lot of him lately. He usually prowled the grounds at least once a day, but it was becoming more like once a week recently and I had noticed that he wasn't coming back to his office to rest. This was taking a terrible toll on my father and I worried for his health, both mental and physical.

It wasn't long before I detected movement away from the temple, but it was fast and stealthy and I couldn't get a good hold on where it was or where it was going. I took back to the treetops hoping to get a better view but by now it was long gone, back into hiding or away from the temple grounds, whichever it was. Now I was certain that it had to be Sly. Only he could sneak around me like that. I found myself recently wanting more than usual to talk to him. The other thing that stayed constant about my outfit was the tail ring that he had given me. Ever since that night I hadn't taken it off and I liked it quite a bit. It meant a lot to me now as a reminder of Sly and what he had tried to offer to do for me. Sometimes I felt stupid, falling blindly in love with that raccoon, but he hadn't made me regret it yet. Some part of me was still trying to figure out how he had done it but the rest of me just didn't care as long as he didn't make me regret it.

I headed to my second favorite tree and kicked a spice plant out of it before sitting in it. "Damn thing" I muttered as I settled in and tucked my knees under my chin, wrapping my tail around my legs so that I could look at the beautiful ring that adorned the end of it. My tail gently swayed back and forth and I was mesmerized by the movement of it. I could honestly feel myself getting sleepy.

"Hey there."

"Eek!"

The sudden voice in my ear scared the hell out of me and caused me to jump straight out of the tree. I was lucky as my reflexes caused me to take hold of the trunk with my claws when I felt myself falling, but it took me a moment to recover and look up to see Sly standing in the tree where I had just been with a terrified look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he offered me his hand.

"Yeah, falling out of trees is my new hobby" I answered sarcastically as I took his hand and let him pull me back up and into his arms.

"Sorry. I didn't realize you were so out of it" he replied.

I shook my head. "What are you doing up here?"

"Looking for spice plants" he said. "I need them to put in the elephant's food. When he gets angry he'll destroy the satellite array that he's attached to."

"Well, I just kicked one to the ground not too long ago. How many do you need?" I asked.

"Bentley thinks that six should do it" he said.

"Take it from me, a whiff of one would do it" I said.

"Well, better safe than sorry" he said. "Do you want to help me out?"

"With spice? Not particularly" I replied.

"Look," Sly said, "if we take down your father's spice operation then he won't have any spice to make him crazy anymore."

"That's ludicrous. Do you know how much spice is out there in the world right now?" I argued.

"Okay, so that was weak, but this is your chance to help us at least shut down this operation. Besides, we know he has the Clockwerk heart here and we're not leaving without it" he said.

"Speaking of Clockwerk, I believe you owe me something…" I alluded.

"Later" he said. "I really do have to do something about that satellite array or do you want him finding out that we're here and kill us?"

"Fine, I'll help you on a different condition this time" I said.

"What's that?" he asked.

"You have to tell me where your safe house is" I replied.

"Deal, but you have to help before I'll tell you, and you have to help with one other thing, not just getting the spice" he bargained.

"Fine" I said. "But it better not take a long time."

"It won't. Want to race for the spice plants?" he asked.

"No" I said and I stuck my tongue out at him and then took off like a bat out of hell for the spice plant that I had kicked to the ground. "One!" I shouted up to him.

The guards all watched me run around the complex like I had gone insane. Sly, of course, had to stay hidden while he did his thing but I had the advantage of being able to do this in plain sight. The last plant that I secured was atop a dead tree at the edge of the complex. Sly had spotted it, too, and was right behind me coming up the tree. "That's three" I smiled as I held them out.

"So, you won" he said. "We'll discuss your prize later" he continued as he shot me a smoldering look that made my heart leap out of my chest. "I'm going to find my last one and then give them to the elephant. Can you meet me over there?" he asked as he pointed to the leaning tower of doom that was connected to the tree by a vine. When I say leaning tower of doom I mean building that was probably once on solid ground but was now teetering on, of all things, a tree that probably grew under it over time. That thing terrified me but I would do it because I made a deal.

"Fine, just hurry up" I said. "If I puke because of that thing, it's going to be on you."

He chuckled nervously and nodded before taking off. I leapt over onto the vine that was connecting this tree to the tower and rode it over to the tower itself. It didn't look so bad until I landed on it and regained my balance for the fraction of a second that I was allowed to balance before the leaning of it threw me off again. In a slight panic I braced myself against the side of the structure that was still there and looked down at the ground below, hoping it would stay down there and that I hadn't done anything to throw this thing off balance. The elephant in the distance suddenly started to trumpet and went into a blind rage, one that I was all too familiar with, and tore away from the satellite array, leaving it useless. I shuddered at the memory of what happened last time something of that nature had occurred with me around and hoped that I wouldn't be blamed this time.

It was only moments later that Sly showed up. "Okay, what now?" I asked him.

"That" he said as he pointed at a large bug in a pool not far from us.

"An Indian water bug" I said. "What are you going to do with it? Stick it in my father's pants?"

"No, we're going to bug his office" Sly replied.

"Clever" I said, not making the connection. "And then we'll all have a party and become best friends."

"No, really" Sly insisted. "Bentley says that its wings will transmit radio frequencies that he can detect so we're going to put it in Rajan's office."

"I know better than to question the great and powerful Bentley" I replied. "So why am I here?"

"You know where your father's office is" Sly said.

"I'm the guide" I observed aloud.

"Pretty much" he replied.

"Okay, but you'll have to keep up. I know the bug will need water and all but I can't be caught with you" I said.

"Lead the way" he said as he picked up the bug and placed it on his back. I just figured that having one of those things on my back would be gross, no matter how cute it was.

I leapt down off of the leaning tower, grateful to be off of it, and then looked around quickly to make sure that none of the guards were nearby before taking off. There were plenty of small pools between there and my father's office, so I took care to lead Sly past each of them as we made our way around. The ground work was easy, not many guards ran around in the grassy part of the complex because the real work was done in the temple. It was getting Sly up the stairs that would be the tricky part and, of course, my favorite monkey guard was tending to the top flight. When we reached the bottom of the temple itself, near the stairs I stopped and looked at Sly.

"Hey, I'm going to find another way up so I don't get caught, but you need to follow the stairs up to that top level and wait for me there" I instructed him.

He nodded in understanding and we went our separate ways. It was easy making it look as if I was returning to my father's office for the night, as the guards were quite used to me coming and going as I pleased now. I could see that Sly was already there and had gotten to where I needed him without incident. He watched me as I made my way up to the temple's main entrance and after walking past and greeting the guards, I pointed toward the wall on a ledge just slightly above him. I tried to mouth the words 'secret door' to him and he seemed to get the message as he jumped up and felt the wall for the button that would release the door. The main entrance was always open at this point in time but I figured he would want to go in a less conspicuous way. Once I was inside, I found him kneeling next to the bug in the pool by my father's desk. I never did know why my father kept a pool there.

"We're all set" he said to me.

"I'll tell my father I brought him a pet because I thought it was cute and soothing if he asks" I said with a grin. That was when, of all things, I heard the voice of my father outside of the main entrance. "Damn" I muttered and gestured for Sly to come over to me. My room door was just off of the main room, so as soon as he got close to me I grabbed him and opened the door before ushering him in just in time for my father to open the main door and stroll in.

"I hear that you've been strolling the grounds" my father said without even looking at me.

"I enjoy getting out, and the guards seem to need some help knowing friend from foe in the case of your competitors" I said.

"There was another incident today with an elephant. It was fed some spice. Would you know anything about that?" he asked.

"Nothing, Father" I replied. "The monkeys clearly don't know what they're doing taking care of an elephant, though, so I'm not surprised."

"Well, it's just one more mess to clean up. It seems that we've intercepted radio transmissions from the Cooper gang just before our array went down. I suspect that they're here for the Clockwerk heart. Their association with Clockwerk is well known" he said.

"If you wish, I will look into it, Father" I said.

"You will do no such thing" he replied. "You have been helpful with my competitors' spies but this is something entirely different."

"As you wish" I said, my head bowed slightly.

"I am turning in for the night; please do not make any noise. I am very tired and in need of much rest" he said.

"Then I wish you a good night, Father" I said with a small bow and he nodded and headed for the opposite end of the room from my door which held the door to his quarters. After he was out of my sight and his door was shut, I quickly opened my own and rushed in my room.

"That was way too close" I said, watching out the door until I had it shut, but when I turned around I froze. Sly was lounging in my bed. He had his hat off and he was giving me one of those smoldering gazes again that made me melt. "What are you doing?" I asked before he could affect me too much.

"I believe there is a prize to discuss" he said, his voice low. My stomach did flips but my brain kicked in and reminded me that my father was in the same building, just two rooms away, and his hearing could be as good as mine when he wanted it to be.

"Sly, now is a bad time" I replied as I walked over to my bed with the intention of getting him out of it.

"Your bed is really comfortable" he commented.

"Yeah, now it's time to get out of it" I said. "Besides, you were supposed to show me where your safe house is and you owe me a story, and here is not going to be a good place for either of those things."

"Does it have to be now?" he asked.

"Yes, it does" I sighed. "I would prefer not being with you in the same building as my father. If he wakes up and comes in here for any reason at all he'll kill you, and you heard him. He knows about your gang and that you're after the Clockwerk parts."

"Fine" he digressed and he reached out his hand as if I was supposed to help him up. I reached out to take it, just out of reflex, and he took my hand and pulled me down next to him.

"Hey" I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice down.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"This wasn't part of the deal" I replied.

"Can't blame a guy for trying" he smiled and then he finally got up, seeming to have given up, and took my hands to pull me to my feet as well.

"Maybe when there isn't someone two rooms over who might kill you" I said as I stepped off of the bed and he followed.

"Are you offering?" he asked, sounding stunned.

"Maybe" I shrugged.

"I'm going to take you up on that offer sometime" he said.

"That's good to know" I smirked.

"Okay, we need to go to the safe house now" he replied, moving ahead of me and towards the door. I grabbed his arm before he could take the handle and turned him around, pushing him backwards until he just slightly contacted the door behind him and his eyes widened. The look in my eyes was that of a predator who had locked on to their prey. I reached past him with both of my arms, his breath hitched and he pushed himself back a bit more, his gaze locking with mine, and then I grabbed the door handle and turned it, backing off instantly and moving to open the door that he was still leaning against.

"I should go first" I said. "Just in case my Father couldn't sleep and is in his office."

I had been right about my father not being able to sleep. Instead, it turned out that he had left just a little bit after I thought he had gone to bed. But he hadn't been in his office. He was outside strolling the grounds again, checking the perimeter and whatever else he did when he was out and about. The funny thing was that he did get some power naps in while he was out there, but not because he wanted to. Someone had placed Indian watermelons all over the place and my father loved them, but they were enough to make someone sleep when eaten the way he liked to – practically whole – and his lack of suspicion worried me, as usually he was a very careful man. Eating fruit that was just lying around wasn't quite like him.

Sly took me to the safe house, and I felt stupid once I saw where it was. There was an old statue carved out of stone in one of the nearby cliff-sides shaped like a head of some kind, which I thought looked like a dragon, with a huge open mouth inside of which the Cooper gang had set up shop. As we entered, Bentley seemed to have an immediate cow, not noticing me at first.  
"Sly! Where have you been? I got the blueprints off of Rajan almost half an hour ago and…" he stopped when he saw me and then began again with a new fire, "why is she here? She could be spying for her father!"

"Bentley, calm down" said Sly. "If she was going to give us up she could have done that back at the palace already and saved herself the trouble of ever having to come here."

"Of all the foolish things" Bentley mumbled.

Once Bentley was out of our hair for the moment, Sly gave me the "grand tour" which was basically "Here's our table, and Bentley's computer and over here are some supplies and makeshift beds." These guys were really roughing it.

"Don't you guy ride in a van or something?" I asked, noticing that I hadn't seen it at all and I never noticed them coming here so something was up.

"The jungle was too thick to drive through" he said. "We came in by foot."

"Why?" I chuckled. "There are vehicles all over around here, or didn't you see them?"

"We took the most practical path for us" said Bentley.

"There are lots of paths through the forest that come here because of the spice shipments going out" I stated.

"Well, we didn't want to be caught right off the bat" retorted Bentley.

"Okay, okay" I said and I put my hands up. I then turned to the large pink hippo that was sitting on the chair next to Bentley eating cookies like they were going out of style. "Hi, I'm Mirage, my real name is Maya, I don't think we've been properly introduced" I said as I held out my hand for him to shake.

"I'm Murray!" he said with a smile, wiping his hand on his shirt before taking mine and shaking it with a strong and firm grip. He was immediately friendly but I could still see the caution in his eyes.

"Don't worry, big guy" I said with a soft smile. "I'm sure that if you wanted to you could stop me before I could even think of doing anything."

"It's nice to meet you while you're awake" he said. "Back in Paris I carried you to the safe place you showed Sly. He talked about you a lot and wouldn't leave unless you were safe from the cops."

"Is that so?" I asked as I looked over at Sly, who was looking away from me, rubbing his neck with one hand.

"It could be" Sly replied.

"Well, that's very… cute" I said with a small smile.

"Great, now that we're all friends, we should start talking about the plan" Bentley said, annoyance thick in his voice.

"Plan?" I asked.

"Yes, and you should leave because we don't need you telling your father anything" Bentley said.

It seemed like even after our little heart-to-heart in Paris, he had no reason to trust me, and didn't think much of me as a friend of any kind. But he was the analytical type. He was watching out for the gang first, not letting emotion get in the way, and I couldn't blame him for that.

"Bentley, let her stay" Sly said.

"No, it's fine" I held up a hand to Sly. "My father will probably want to know where I am anyway. He's been acting strange the last week or so and I want to make sure he's okay."

"Are you sure?" Sly asked.

"Yeah, and besides, I have to make sure he's not sick to his stomach after all of those watermelons he ate. I hope he should sleep well tonight" I said. "It's just really strange of him not to be cautious."

"Even I was surprised by it" said Bentley.

"What?" I asked.

"I was the one who led him to the watermelons and took the blueprints" he said.

"Papa's gonna be pissed if he hears a little turtle beat him" I giggled. "Don't worry, I'm not about to tell him. It's just kind of amusing, is all." The look I got told me that Bentley wasn't as amused about this as I was. "Sorry, I'll be going now" I said and I went to duck out of the door, but Sly caught my hand. He spun me around and advanced on me until I was leaning on the door for support and he was just inches from me. The look in his eyes was heated, as if he could take me up against the door right then and there, and my heart leapt up into my throat, I stopped breathing. Goosebumps exploded on my skin under my fur as he reached around me and then in a perfect mimicry of what I had done to him earlier, he grabbed the door handle and backed off instead of doing anything.

I let out the breath that I had been holding and let my body relax, but it was this moment of defenselessness that he took to his advantage. Before I could even think, he had me up against the wall, his knee forcing itself between my legs to pin me in every way possible as he captured my lips and pressed his body as close as he could to mine. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, desiring him closer to me, wishing that there was a way to make him closer than he already was, because it suddenly was like I had been set on fire and he was the only water left in the world. My fingers gripped at his fur, and he became more aggressive as if he had forgotten everything else. He detached himself from my lips and moved to my neck instead, nuzzling aside the fur there to kiss and suck at the skin underneath. I whimpered and the whimper quickly turned into soft mewls. Sly took this as encouragement and nipped at my neck, biting a little harder with each turn he took at my skin until he finally clamped down and I felt him draw blood. A gasp escaped my lips, but it wasn't painful, it was exhilarating. At the same time, the change in action broke me of my slightly entranced state and I finally took notice of the two others in the room who were staring at us slack-jawed and in shock.

"Sly, your friends" I said and this seemed to finally snap him out of it, but not completely. He gently licked the blood off of the bite mark that he had just made on my skin and then brought his eyes up to meet mine in a heated gaze that almost took me back under again.

"Don't play with me like that again" he said, and I immediately knew what he was referring to. Whatever this was had probably been burning inside of him since what I did back in my room. "No one likes a tease."

"Sorry" I said, not a hint of actual regret in my voice. "I'll be more careful next time."

"You bet you will" he replied as he leaned back down to my neck again to lick off a bit more of the blood that had appeared through my fur. I shuddered at that, some deep part of me wishing we didn't have to stop here.

"Ahem" came Bentley's voice from behind us and he broke away completely and suddenly like he'd been hit by lightning and I nervously brushed a strand of hair away from my face.

"I'll be going, then" I said as I went for the door handle again but Sly beat me there.

"Let me go first, to make sure that no guards are looking when you leave" he said.

"Okay" I agreed and just as back at my father's office, but in reverse, he opened the door and looked out cautiously before heading out and then gesturing for me to follow.

"I'll find you again" he said as he placed a hand on my cheek. It was then that he cast a shocked look at my neck and went to his red leg pouch to pull out a gold colored bandana. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize how bad it was" he said as he went to tying the bandana around my neck to both stop and hide the blood from sight.

"It's fine" I said, taking his hands in mine. "You'd better go back in there before Bentley takes an eternal disliking to me and has a cow at the same time."

He smiled and nodded, looking back once more before going inside. It was time for me to head back to the temple and get some sleep of my own, after taking care of my neck of course.


	13. Chapter 12 - Betrayal

"Where have you been?" were the first four stern words that I heard as I walked through the door of my father's office to head to my room.

"I was out helping patrol" I claimed.

"You're hurt" he said when he saw my neck.

"It's no big deal" I said as my hand immediately shot to my neck to cover up the side of it.

"What were you doing?" he asked.

"I told you, I was out helping patrol the grounds. I simply had a run in with a snake, that's all. It just scratched me. It's not a big deal" I told him.

"While you were out, someone stole the blueprints from my person, and the satellite array was destroyed" he said. "We're going deeper into the temple, into hiding. I will not risk losing the half of the Clockwerk heart that I keep with me at all times."

"Father, you are overreacting" I replied.

"No, this Cooper gang is clever. They were able to steal something from me while I walked the grounds. We are taking no more risks. We will go into the inner temple until they have been crushed" he said stubbornly. "Get the things that you want to bring with you."

I sighed, knowing that I wouldn't win with him when he was like this. There wasn't a lot that I cared to pack up in my room. My father probably already had rooms set up for us if he was this concerned. I went to my room and pulled out a duffle bag that most likely had been used to bring things here in the first place and I stuffed it with clothes, enough for a week at the most, and then headed back out to my father and followed him through a secret door in the back of his office, one that I hadn't even known was there but was probably there so that we wouldn't be seen moving throughout the temple. As we moved through the temple's innards, I saw that my father had even upped the guard detail inside of the palace. Surely, by now, the Cooper gang had realized that my father wasn't coming back out and they were coming up with some sort of crazy plan that included blowing things up that would bring my father out. Part of me was tempted to grab the bug before we went into hiding, but I decided it looked happy where it was and left it behind.

Now that we were in hiding, I called for a medical kit so that I could fix up my neck. It wasn't bleeding at all anymore, it just needed a bandage to keep it from starting up again and it needed a bit of cleaning, but it wasn't bad at all; it probably looked worse than it was. I would have to kick Sly later for making me bleed so much, but there was nothing I could do about it now. My father would have to leave if I wanted to sneak out, but honestly I didn't know if that would turn out to be a good idea. He did go to check on the spice operation's inner workings, leaving me by myself in what was now going to be our joint space meant for hiding.

"I see we're lying to our Lord again" said a voice behind me and I turned to see that my favorite monkey had made his way into the room after my father left.

"I don't know what you mean" I replied.

"I know what you've been up to. I saw you leave their hideout. You are betraying your father and the Klaww Gang to frolic around with that raccoon from the Cooper gang. How would your father react if he knew?" he asked as he smirked at me. "Maybe you'd finally get the punishment that you deserve. Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows about the two of you right now."

"Are you threatening me?" I growled at him.

"Yes, I am" he replied.

"To what end?" I asked him.

"To any end I please" he said with another smirk, obviously checking me out.

"My father told me that you've been stalking me for a long time" I said. "So why not just tell him if you hate me so much?"

"Perhaps I will" he said. "But to that end, I would hope that my loyalty to your father would give me some power of persuasion over what kind of punishment you receive."

"You're sick," I spat, "and it won't happen, I promise you that."

"We'll see" he said, looking me over again.

"I'll kill you first" I replied.

"We already went over this. You don't kill" he retorted.

"Maya" the voice of my father entered the conversation as he opened the door and walked back into the room. He paused and looked at what was occurring before him. "You," he addressed the monkey, "what gives you the right to be alone with my daughter?"

"I was just making sure she was safe" he said. I let out a low growl that he wouldn't have heard but my father was sure to detect. Shortly after that, my keen hearing detected an explosion somewhere in the temple. One of my ears flicked, trying to stay focused on that sound, but I had to be present in the room where my father and the monkey were having a staring contest.

"Father" I said, getting his immediate attention, and at that moment there was another explosion. His ears perked as well, as a third soon followed it.

"Maya, go investigate" he told me. "I will stay here and guard the other half of the Clockwerk heart."

"Yes, Father" I said.

As I headed for the door, though, the monkey stepped in. "I don't know if you want her to go investigate" he said. "After all, she has been having relations with the instigator of these attacks."

"That is a lie" my father said before it could even think about coming out of my mouth. I was stuck. Here was my choice to either lie to my father and lose his trust or tell my father the truth and lose his trust, either way I was pretty screwed.

"The stupid monkey misinterpreted my actions" I said, thinking of a middle ground.

"What do you mean?" my father asked.

"I have been spending time with the enemy" I said. "But it is not for the reasons he thinks. The Cooper raccoon is a flirt, he loves women and loves to see them falling all over him, so I've been playing with him. He didn't seem afraid of me, and he's been trying this entire time to get my attention, so I let him think that he did so that I could get inside of his operation in hopes of taking it down from the inside, but I have yet to be successful."

"She lies" the monkey said.

"Hold your tongue before I cut it out" my father snapped at him. "If what you say is true, then bring me his head to prove yourself" he added to me.

I nodded coldly and then made my way out of the room. Once I got my bearings on where the misplaced explosions were coming from, I realized that they were either in or near the spice grinder, of all things, but by the time I got into the room, Sly was standing on the wooden walkway next to the basin where spice was ground and the grinding wheel was already destroyed.

"Sly" I hissed to get his attention, and when he saw me he ran over to me immediately.

"Why are you here? I thought you and you father were in hiding" he said.

"A monkey guard who's apparently been stalking me for years knows about us and spilled the beans to my father" I explained.

"Oh, no…" said Sly, expecting the worst now.

"I told my father that it was because I was playing you, but now he wants me to bring back your head to prove that I'm not betraying him" I said. "Sly, I need to know what you guys are up to so that I can stay out of trouble."

"Look, we destroyed the spice grinder to try to get your father out in the open, without it his operation is defunct, right?" I nodded, but I knew that wouldn't get him out. "So if he doesn't come out of hiding, we're going to blow the dam above the temple grounds and try to flood him out, and if that doesn't work we're taking the huge ruby on top of the temple entrance and trading it for some more explosives to take out the whole grotto."

"For thieves, you guys sure do blow things up a lot" I said with a shake of my head.

"Promise me you'll stay safe" he said.

"Of course, but don't take it wrong if you see me killing a monkey at any point in time. This one has a death wish" I replied.

"Okay" he said.

"You need to go" I told him and I tried to shoo him off by getting behind his back and pushing.

"I know" he said. "Hey, I'm sorry I got you into all of this."

"You didn't get me into it, Sly" I said with a half smile. "I was born into a gang with a father who is deep in criminal operations. Whether it was you, the cops, or some of my father's rivals on the Black Market, this was going to happen eventually." He nodded and then we both heard my father's voice coming to the grinding wheel. "Go" I whispered as I pushed him. He placed a short, soft kiss on my cheek and then turned and ran.

"Maya! What is going on here?" my father said as he entered the room.

"I was too late, the damage was already done and the Cooper raccoon was gone by the time I arrived" I replied.

"Without the spice grinder, there will be no spice to ship" my father said. "The damage done will take days to fix. Maya, I need you to take my place prowling the grounds while I supervise this."

I froze; this was the exact same thing that happened before. "Father…" I said.

"Maya, I trust you with this task, and you may use whatever force necessary to stop the raccoon before he and his gang do any more damage here" he said. All I could do was nod. There really was nothing that I could do now that the ball had been set in motion. Like a bullet from a gun, there was no calling it back, and no stopping its arrival at its predestined target. It was now exceedingly clear that I would have to choose: Sly or my father. I hoped that the time would not come too soon for me to make the final choice.

I took to prowling the grounds, as my father had requested, but I preferred to stick closer to the temple and to the shadows, unlike his method of marching around in the open. He was quite threatening, so it worked for him, but I was not quite as threatening, so it did me a lot of good to have the advantage of surprise.

Not much was going on, until Constable Neyla showed up, and of all people for her to be looking for, she was looking for Sly. I couldn't hear their conversation, but I headed for the treetops to where I could watch where they were headed. It looked like she was leading him on a seriously long trip around the complex for some reason and I just needed to know what reason that was. After taking the extreme long way around they came back up to the temple. I was finally in a place where I could drop down a bit and listen in but all I caught was the constable saying "we're on for that date in Bollywood." The words sunk in, and I realized very quickly that he had asked her on a date. Sure, we weren't official or anything, but I thought that he and I had a talk about this. I could feel the anger bubbling inside of me. How dare he lie to me like that? Even more, I was hurt. I felt betrayed. This was probably how my father was feeling when he thought that I betrayed him, and suddenly it sunk in that my only choice had ever been my father. He was my blood, my kin, and he wouldn't betray me like this. I had fallen so quickly for Sly's silver tongue and unbridled passion that I believed every word he said. It felt as if I had been played.

I waited outside of the entrance to the spice operation that I saw him enter through, because it was likely that he knew no other way out. Part of me was hell-bent on killing him the moment I saw his cheating face again, but there was still something that was in control, telling me that killing him wouldn't be the best solution. No, this time I would let him go. I would show him mercy, even if he didn't deserve it. The door beneath me opened and I watched as Sly exited with the half of the Clockwerk heart that had been behind that door. Silently, I leapt down behind him and let him walk a few paces before addressing him.

"How long did you think you could keep your affair with the slut-tiger from me?" I growled. He turned around, wide eyed. "I have half a mind to kill you right now" I said to him as I stalked up to him and grabbed him by the collar. "How could you?"

"It's not what you think" he tried to say, but I tossed him away from me with ease. He caught his footing and looked up at me.

"What is it, then? You asked her on a date" I said. I felt something on my cheek fur and reached up to touch it, finding that it was a tear. I was crying?

"I'm sorry, please, it was stupid of me" he said, trying to reason with me but I was honestly too hurt to hear him out at that moment. Perhaps I was overreacting but I couldn't control it.

"Leave" I finally told him, removing my gaze from him to the ground before closing my eyes. "Go, because as soon as I see you again I'm going to kill you."

He understood the seriousness of the threat, for as soon as I looked up he was long gone. I heard a rustle behind me and turned quickly just barely catching the figure that was running off in my peripheral vision. A growl escaped my throat as I launched myself after it, thinking that it had been that irritating monkey who had been stalking me this entire time. Its movement was too graceful, though, and too silent to be a monkey. When rounding a corner, I caught a flash of purple fur. "Neyla" I growled to myself. No matter how mad I was at Sly, we tigers were somewhat territorial and she was definitely encroaching on my territory. It was time to take out some trash.

She led me around the grounds, much like she had Sly, and out to a clearing near the edge of the territory surrounding the temple. Like a snake, she turned on me and reared back, showing me her fangs.

"You" I growled. "You bitch; you should really learn to stay in your place."

"Oh, were you bothered by my interaction with Sly? As far as I can tell, he's a free man and can do whatever he wants" she replied.

"You'll regret treading in my territory" I growled.

"I highly doubt that" she replied. "You, on the other hand, will regret attacking an officer of the law."

"I haven't attacked you yet" I said.

"Yet" she retorted smartly.

I let out a low, threatening growl and brought up my claws in a fighting stance, ready to strike, when there was suddenly very loud shooting behind me. It distracted me, and I turned around to see that a helicopter was shooting the dam above the temple. For a moment it struck me that my father was in danger, but before I could really think about it, she leapt at me from behind. I wasn't distracted enough not to notice her, so I turned in time to intercept her, but at the same time it wasn't the time for her nonsense. We were matched in size, but from my initial contact with her I could tell immediately that my physical strength was greater than hers. The next time she charged me, I took her head on, grabbing her arms and using her inertia to throw her away from me. Her claws tore at my arms as she flew out of my grip, but I ignored the searing pain as I took off for the temple as soon as she was clear of me.

Above me, a rock from the dam hit the helicopter that had been firing at it, and the copter went down on top of the other leaning tower in the area. Water was flooding into the temple. My only mindset was to make sure that my father was still alive and still okay. "Father!" I shouted as I threw open the temple doors and rushed inside. I could hear the water further down inside of the temple and he didn't reply so I feared the worst. As I approached the part of the temple we had been hiding in, I found that a downward slanting corridor that was part of the main stairwell was filled with water. Only a few steps down I was already waist deep. It occurred to me that my father had never actually bothered to learn how to swim. Without another thought, I dove under the water, swimming down to see if he was trapped inside of the temple.

It was dark but the water was quite clear so what little light there was my eyes could pick up quite easily. That was when I saw something horrible. My father was floating at the top of the room that was just before the stairwell. He seemed to be either unconscious or very close to it. In a panic I swam for him, taking him by the arm and pulling him under the water as quickly as I could to the stairwell. Once I got him to the top of it, I found that he was actually quite heavy, and his fur was definitely adding more than a few extra pounds in water. I struggled to pull him up onto the stairs just enough to get him reasonably out of the water, but he wasn't moving.

"Father!" I shouted at him again, but when he wouldn't respond I did what came naturally to me in my anger and hit him in the chest as hard as I could with my fists, but I wasn't strong enough to do anything. All I knew was that I had to get the water out of him and get him breathing again, but if I wasn't strong enough maybe my weight would work. I got up on my feet and stood over him and then jumped as high as I could and landed on his chest knees first. A cough escaped his body as he choked up water and I got off of him right away to allow him to get up. "Father" I said and I threw my arms around him.

"Maya" he replied, slightly confused.

"I was terrified that I'd lost you" I said as I buried my face in his fur, tears streaming down my cheeks brought about by the simple notion that he was almost taken from me.

"My daughter" he said, placing his hand on the back of my head and his other arm around me to return my embrace. "I have never been happier to see you."

Cooper had done this. He had nearly killed my father. Was that his intention all along? Did he want to kill my father and then take me as some sort of trophy for having done so? I found myself so emotionally confused that I just wanted to stay with my father and cry for a bit longer. This had to stop, and my anger towards Sly had only grown to immeasurable depths.

"I'm going to find him, Father" I spoke into my father's fur. I pulled away from him and stood, helping him to his feet as well. "I'm going to find Cooper and I'm going to end him. This ends here and now. They won't take you away from me."

My father seemed shocked about what I had said, and said nothing as I left the building. I was intent on doing this one thing, and I knew just where to find Cooper to do it. My feet carried me swiftly and quickly to their hideout, only to find it empty. Everything was gone. They were packed up and ready for their final move. I had to find them now.

As I exited their hideout, there was gunfire on the other side of the compound, and I perked up, ready for anything. Guards began rushing towards the temple. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going on and I decided just to go look for myself. I was only halfway to the temple when I was intercepted, tackled from the side from a force I hadn't detected. After pushing off of whatever or whoever it was I landed in a crouch and looked up. It was Neyla… again.

"You must have a death wish" I hissed.

"I don't, but I'm sure your little boyfriend does" she said with a smirk.

"Who would that be?" I asked, showing indifference to his existence.

"Sly Cooper, the raccoon your father will soon be beheading. To think, he would actually believe that I would go on a date with him. What a fool! And you're no better, thinking that I would want a thief anywhere but in jail" she said.

"You played him" I said, "and you played me."

"Precisely" she said. "Only you're not going to be around to tell him about it. Once I wipe you out and hand your father over to Interpol, I'm going to take special pleasure in watching your poor little boyfriend get tortured by the Contessa."

"You haven't the skill to take care of me" I replied.

"We'll find out, now, won't we?" she retorted and she got into a fighting pose, pulling her whip out.

"You'll die here" I told her and that comment made her snarl and launch herself at me. I was ready for it, and managed to dodge just off to the side where I could take a swipe at her face with my claws, aiming for her eyes. My shot missed as well and instead I just barely caught her cheek. She rolled back to her feet and lashed out with her whip, catching my left foot with it and pulling hard, pulling my foot out from under me and putting me on my back.

"You'll be the one to die" she growled as she walked up to me, stepping on my already abused ankle, making pain shoot up through my leg. I made to push her off, but she stomped again, causing me to reel back in pain. Something was definitely sprained, if not broken by now. It was when my life was flashing before my eyes that the explosion occurred and water came rushing from the temple out into the complex, straight for us. She gave me a look and then leapt off. "Hope you know how to swim" she shouted as she headed for high ground.

I found very quickly that I couldn't stand and the wave of water headed for me was no joke. My next thought was just to find something, anything, to hold on to until the water's rushing ceased. There was a vine just out of my reach attached to the cliff side. I pushed myself with my good leg just in time to grab it and hang on for dear life. The water hit like a wall and just kept coming. Even holding on to the vine I was certain that I was going to die there. All of my anger towards Sly was washed away, as I thought one last time about the woman who was really behind all of this. If I survived, she would die. I would make sure she did.

It felt like an eternity before the water seemed to calm and cease trying to pull me from my only life line. I knew it was only a few seconds at the most, but my lungs still felt like they were going to explode so I used the vine to pull myself up and found, to my luck, that the cliff had not been completely submerged. There was a flash of lightning at the temple. It wasn't normal lightning, either, it was traveling horizontally. "Sly" I said mostly to myself and I pushed off of the cliff and began swimming for the part of the temple that had not been submerged by the water. My ankle ached in protest, but there were more important things.

As I pulled myself out of the water at the complex, there was a final lightning strike and then I heard Murray yell "Sly!" I hadn't tried to put pressure on my ankle yet but now that I did I immediately fell to the ground, crying out for the pain that I hadn't expected. It wasn't far. I could do it. My father was on top of the temple entrance where there used to be a ruby, but now it was gone. He leapt down into the now empty pool and that's where I saw him. Sly was face down on a lily pad that had fallen to the pool floor with the lack of water, and my father was advancing on him. I had to stop this. Everything had to stop. Neyla had something planned and there was no way that I would let her win. I hadn't died like she wanted, and now I had to stop my father from killing Sly, and even more I had to apologize to him.

It didn't occur to me that I could get hurt as I leapt down into the empty pool, but when I hit the bottom I regretted my action, probably jamming the foot that I couldn't land right on anyway.

"Father!" I shouted as I limped as fast as I could to make it to Sly before he could. He raised his staff, about to smash the raccoon's head in with the end of it, but I just made it, throwing myself between Sly and my father, using my own body to protect the raccoon. "No" I said, not looking up to meet my father's gaze. "You can't kill him."

"Maya, move" he said.

"No, I won't" I said and I finally looked up to him with tears in my eyes. "You have to stop. You're not yourself anymore." He looked down at me with anger burning, but I wouldn't cave in. "Look what the spice has done to you, to us. You have become so hateful, and you have lost sight of everything, including what I might want for myself. I don't want to take over this operation!"

"Foolish girl!" he said, and raised his staff, and for a moment I thought that he was going to strike me, but he didn't. Murray dropped in from above and challenged him. His focus off of us, I ignored whatever they were doing off to the side. Sly was important now.

"Sly" I said as I pulled myself over to him and shook his shoulder. "Sly" I repeated, and he finally stirred.

"Ugh… Maya?" he said.

"Sly, I'm sorry" I said, it was really the first thing that came to mind to say to him.

"Neyla, she betrayed us" Sly said.

"I know, I'm sorry" I repeated. "I should have never doubted you. Murray is taking on my father but I couldn't let him kill you." The ruckus behind me suddenly stopped, and I turned to see that my father had been felled by Murray. It was for the best.

"We have to get out of here" Sly said to me.

"I can't walk, Sly" I said. "Neyla attacked me and damaged my ankle. You're not much better off, and Murray can't get out of here without a ladder, can he?"

Sly groaned in response and that was when Neyla showed up at the edge of the pool, followed by the Contessa and that fox lady whose name I really should have asked, too. I couldn't hear her, but she said something to one of the officers with them and then pointed to me. The officer that she spoke to pulled out a dart gun and aimed it at me. I had no hope of escaping what was coming and before I could even think I felt the impact of the dart in my shoulder. It was a tranquilizer.

"Maya!" I heard Sly say but the dart took incredibly fast effect and my world quickly faded into darkness. I never thought I would have the experience or reason to say it, but I definitely liked getting tranquilized by the Cooper gang a lot better than the cops.


	14. Chapter 13 - Promises Kept

I awoke in the back of a moving truck. Without thinking, I immediately tried to stand, but the instant pain in my ankle caused me to sit back down. My eyes took a moment to adjust to the light before I saw that we were riding in the holding cell of an armored police vehicle. Someone had bandaged my forearms and my ankle and my father was sitting across from me. He didn't look up, but he didn't look good either. Murray definitely beat him up, I could see cuts and bruises under his fur, but he also seemed to be depressed.

"Father?" I asked and I reached out to him.

"Don't" he said. "I do not deserve your kindness or concern. I have been a terrible father to you these past few years."

"Don't say that" I tried to say, but he stopped me.

"I have never taken into consideration what you truly wanted. I just wanted what was best for my spice operation, whether or not it was best for you. I betrayed you and I betrayed your mother. My head has begun to clear of the spice and I see now that it has indeed caused me to do terrible things. I have wronged you, my daughter" he said.

"I never blamed you" I said. "I knew it was the spice but I also never did anything about it. It's just as much my fault for letting these things grow to such disastrous lengths."

"Do you feel any pain?" he asked.

"A bit, but it is tolerable" I replied.

"Even without her here, you turned out every bit the woman your mother was" he said. "Your stubbornness, your beauty, and your betrayal of me for a man who was every bit the type of man I didn't want you to be with."

"Father…" I tried to say.

"Cooper is Thomas, isn't he?" my father asked. "There is no need to answer. I could smell it and they're both raccoons who you seemed to like, so it's only logical."

"I lied to you… I'm sorry" I said, my head drooping.

"No, you should not be sorry. You simply followed your heart even when I was so strongly against allowing you to do so" he said. I hadn't really expected him to be so understanding.

The vehicle we were in lurched to a stop and then moments later two men came to the back of it with crossbows and instructed us to get out. I tried to stand but my foot wouldn't let me. My father picked me up and held me to his chest. I buried my face in his fur and didn't let go until we were dumped into a cell. It seemed to be a higher security cell, away from the others.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around the dank cell.

"Prague" my father answered. "The Contessa has placed us on her list to be rehabilitated."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The Contessa walked up to the door of the cell at that exact moment. "It's a pity" she said. "That a girl as young as you was pulled into working for a gang so early in her youth, but you have years ahead of you to make right your wrongs. I wonder what kind of career we should give you. You have a natural talent for dancing. Perhaps a stripper at a nightclub would suit you."

"Witch" I hissed.

"Leave my daughter alone" my father spoke up for me. "She has her own will and will right her own wrongs if she must."

"Not on my watch" the Contessa said as she twirled the keys to our cell in her hand, reminding us who was in charge in this situation. My father looked broken already. Separated from his spice, and now realizing what he had done to me, he was in no position right now to talk back to the woman who so obviously held both of our futures in her grasp. She smiled and walked off.

"Father, don't let her bother you" I said, reaching out and taking his paw in mine.

"I have not been the father I should have to you" he said. "I forced you to grow up in a world that you may not have wanted and for that I am sorry. I caused you pain, physical pain, and I know that some of my actions hurt your heart."

"Father, do not talk down about yourself" I said, earning his full attention. "Your actions may not have been the best, but your intentions were always pure. You always wanted what you thought best for me, and while sometimes you hurt me, I knew you hadn't meant it the way it had happened and so I understood and I have long forgiven you for all of the things I thought you had done. We are all we have left, and here there is no room for regret or disdain."

"No" he said, "you have another. Sly Cooper. You threw your body and your life in front of him to protect him from me. You did repair your relationship, did you not?"

"I did, but there was little time" I said. "Father, you're the one who taught me blood is all we have."

"I was wrong" he said. "Just like your mother, you chose a man whom I could not accept, but you stubbornly stayed by his side, even when you knew that I wouldn't approve. Her fire is in you, but unlike her parents, I will not try to stop you from what you wish for your life. Blood is all we have, in the end, but we can have others as well. You can know that if something were to happen to him or to your relationship that you can come to me and I will take you back time and time again."

"You speak as if we're getting out of this prison" I said.

"I have a feeling that the stay here will not be as long as we first may have thought" he replied. "Rest" he continued, "your body is damaged and you need to rest if it is to repair itself."

"Okay" I smiled, feeling for once in a long time that my father and I were on the same page and that I didn't have to fight him. He scooted closer to me and I used his leg as a pillow as I closed my eyes and tried to take his advice to heart, but I couldn't help but wonder what he had planned for getting us out of here.

I had long since lost track of time. My father and I had cared enough to keep track of what we thought was the first week, but as time went on we could no longer tell days from hours, or day from night. The slashes on my forearms from Neyla had become infected, and we were provided minimal, if any, medical treatment. My ankle had not improved either. While we thought the swelling had gone down, it had gotten worse and I could no longer move it. For the amount of time that I had been in here, I probably should have healed by now. If the stay in this dank prison didn't kill me, surely the infection that I was developing would.

It turned out that the Contessa was keeping us in her estate, not in her actual prison, but it was enough like a prison that I didn't see the difference. She apparently had the Clockwerk eyes here, which she planned to use on us. It had probably been a few weeks at least since she returned to the estate and set up shop there permanently, because apparently Sly and Murray had escaped her prison and set her reputation aflame. Since then, she had been here. I found it odd that she hadn't paid us any visits. We just knew she was back because some of the guards had been talking about it and all of them shaped up right after the rumor rolled around that she was at the estate.

What must have been a few more days passed before I felt a fever set in. My arms burned and ached at the same time, and I no longer had the energy to even feel the itching that was brought about by the infected tissue. I slept more and more each night, and each time it was harder to wake up and move again, my damaged ankle not doing anything to help me. My father hardly slept at all. He spent most of his time trying to keep me comfortable and monitoring my condition. The more I slept, the less he did. I could tell he was desperate to help me, but the guards would act like he wasn't speaking and carry on with whatever they were doing and only bringing us the food we were supposed to be eating for each meal. For me, hope had been lost long ago already. If this was part of the Contessa trying to break us, it was working. It was either break or die, though they could practically be the same thing by now.

Bentley finally collected all of the bad mojo from the third crypt and was about to leave it when he heard a gruff, deep and familiar voice. "Hello?" A moment of silence passed. "Hello? Is anyone there who can help us?"

Cautiously he headed towards the bars where the guards had been coming out to stop him and realized that behind the door there was a long hallway and several offshoots. Surely, the voice was coming from there. He set a bomb to take out the bars, even though he normally was cautious something in his gut told him to go check out where that voice had come from, and if they were in need of help they might be more captives of the Contessa. "Where are you?" he called out.

"Down here" the voice replied.

Bentley followed the voice down the second hallway to the left and entered what was obviously an ancient dungeon. There were cells on either side of the hallway and Bentley peered in each one to see if someone was in it. When he finally came to the cell holding the only prisoners in the building the sight that met his eyes shocked him. "Rajan" he said.

"Who are you?" he asked, not recognizing this small turtle.

"Bentley…" a female voice came from the back of the cell.

"Maya, save your strength" Rajan replied. "How does my daughter know you?"

"I'm a member of the Cooper gang" Bentley replied, feeling secure with the cell bars between him and the pair of killers.

"Then you would know where to find Sly Cooper" Rajan said, the tone of his voice very matter of fact.

"I do know where Sly is, yes" Bentley replied.

"You must send him here" Rajan said. "My daughter is very ill. She needs a doctor. He would be able to remove her from these circumstances, would he not?"

"Sly is capable helping" said Bentley. "How do we know you can be trusted?"

"Turtle, I have changed, if only a little, and I have realized that I do not want to watch my daughter die in this cell. Her ankle is injured and she has a severe infection. If she does not get treatment soon she will die" said Rajan. "She helped me think clearly now that my mind is free of the influence of the spice."

Bentley took a look into the cell where Maya was laying on a thin sheet of fabric, shivering. From where he was, he could see that the cuts on her arms were green in color, definitely not a healthy color, and that she held her foot at an awkward angle. For a moment she looked up and met his eyes and when she did he saw that they were bloodshot and she could barely keep them open. "I can send Sly here" said Bentley. "But from there on it's his choice what he wants to do and if he wants to help her."

"Thank you" Rajan replied with a bow.

"I need to get back to the safe house. I'll send him as soon as I can" said Bentley and he took off out of the crypt.

He did everything in his power to collect the bad mojo from the fourth crypt as quickly as possible before high-tailing it back to the safe house. The two others who were sitting around playing a game of cards jolted upright, ready for a fight, when Bentley burst through the door out of breath. He set the collector down and then turned to Sly.

"Sly, the Contessa has Maya and Rajan" Bentley told him.

"What?" Sly asked, looking suddenly stunned.

"Maya and Rajan are being kept in a dungeon connected to the third crypt that I went to" Bentley began to explain.

"Maya's here? How is she?" Sly cut in, excited at first to hear that she was in the same area as him, safe for all he knew.

"It's not good, Sly" said Bentley with a shake of his head. "Rajan called me to the cell they're being kept in. She must have been hurt. Her arms are cut and infected and he told me that her ankle is damaged. If she doesn't get some medical treatment soon she might not make it."

"You should have called me right away" said Sly as he grabbed his gear and got ready to run out the door. His mind was in one place at that moment.

"But, Sly, it's Rajan" Bentley argued weakly.

"I don't care if it's Clockwerk in the flesh, I'm going to help her" Sly said. "Can you put a waypoint in my Binocucom?"

"Sure, I'm on it" Bentley said and he moved quickly to his computer to put in the coordinates. "Done."

"I'll be back soon" Sly said.

"I'll get the medical kit ready" said Bentley. He often was the one taking care of the bad injuries that the other two got, so he was somewhat prepared for this kind of thing. Saving a life, though, was a lot different than patching up a laceration.

After Bentley left, my father moved to my side. "He'll send help. You'll be okay" he told me.

The shivering had set in not more than ten minutes before Bentley had arrived, but it was getting worse by the second. It was harder and harder to fight the urge to fall asleep. "Father, I'm scared" I choked out.

"You'll be okay, I promise" he replied, stroking my hair to help soothe me in my current plight. Every minute began to feel like a lifetime, and I could feel my power slipping.

"Maya?!" we finally heard echoing through the halls.

"We are here" my father said, leaving my side.

"Rajan" said Sly, now noting the danger that stood between him and me.

"Sly Cooper, you destroyed my spice empire and landed me in this prison" my father replied. "Still, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Had I continued to consume spice I would have never seen the harm that was coming to my daughter of my actions." My father walked back over to my body. "She is hurt, Cooper, and you are the only one I know of right now who can remove her from here and seek help. I ask that you take her."

"And what about you?" asked Sly.

"I must stay here" he replied, shocking Sly, and what little of me was still conscious. "For her sake, I must remain. If I were to go missing, Interpol would search for me, a member of the Klaww Gang and a spice lord of immense power. They would not rest until they found me and that would not be safe for her."

"You act like I'm in good relations with the cops" said Sly.

"No, I trust you" my father said. "I want you to take her and take care of her."

"Father" I said and he turned to me, picking me up off of the floor.

"Maya, I cannot protect you the way you need to be protected" he said. "And I cannot come with you. It is too dangerous for you to be with me any longer."

"I can't" I said, the weight of losing my father coming down hard on me and it hadn't really happened yet.

"I will find a way to be with you again someday" he said to me, nuzzling the side of my head. "If you need me, I will be there, but you need to go with Cooper now."

Sly's eyes widened when he saw me up close as my father carried me over to the bars. He could see the infection now and that I looked to be nearly dead. Right away, he set to picking the lock to the cell door. I felt the difference in the size of the body I was held against as I changed hands. Finally, I felt myself flashing in and out of consciousness. "Maya…" Sly said to me, but I couldn't reply any longer.

"Do not make me regret my decision to trust in you" said my father. "As far as I can tell, what she must feel for you is something like the love her mother felt for me, and if you break her heart I will find you and kill you. It is a promise."

"I understand. I promise I will protect her" said Sly.

"Now go!" my father said, his voice booming just enough to startle my eyes open before I started to lose the fight. Sly was moving quickly and frantically, I could tell, but he didn't get further than a few yards before I completely lost consciousness.

Sly was the one to burst into the safe house this time, carrying the limp tiger in his arms. "Bentley!" he called and the turtle was there by his side in an instant.

"I set up some blankets and an inflatable mattress over there" said Bentley as he pointed to the small but adequate set up in the corner. "I had Murray go out for some antibiotics. For now I'll just have to work with what I have."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Sly.

"Get the garbage can" Bentley replied. He set to work immediately, taking a rag to the arm wounds, trying to scrub away the surface infection to get at least some of the bacteria out of the way but he found it difficult with all of the scabbing and matting that had occurred due to no treatment of the wound. It was going to be a hard path to recovery, he could tell, but it was going to be even harder to get this to the point where recovery was possible. "She's going to hate me."

There was a razor in the medical kit for just this sort of thing. The fur around the wounds was matted and bloody with yellow pus mixed in. There was no way he could possibly clean this wound with the fur still in the way, risking further infection. Without a word, he set to removing the fur from her forearms. He poured hydrogen peroxide over the area to clean whatever he couldn't get, but he knew that the infection was probably well in the blood stream by now, or else her condition wouldn't have been so bad. What concerned him now was bandaging these wounds to prevent more surface infection and getting her conscious again. He was no doctor, but he knew that it was important to keep someone in this condition awake long enough to ensure that sleeping wasn't what killed them. After slathering the long cuts with antibiotic ointment he set to wrapping her arms in gauze, making sure to layer a lot to keep the blood from soaking through. None of this would matter, though, if Murray didn't find some antibiotics and return soon.

Now that her arms were taken care of, he moved to her foot. He poked around and felt for any broken bones, but found none. From what he could tell, the healing that had occurred so far in her tendons and muscles was wrong because of the maltreatment of the injury. The only thing he could really do for it was to try to force it to flex into a healing position and splint and ice it. He was now glad that she was unconscious because if she was awake this would have been terribly painful and he was certain that he was going to re-damage some things in the attempt to fix others.

"Sly, I'm going to need some ice" he said.

"On it" said Sly and he headed out to the van.

"I'm sorry" Bentley said to the unconscious form in front of him. He took her foot and slowly turned it, amazed at the resistance that he was meeting in trying to do so. The bones seemed to crackle and pop as he moved her foot to a right angle and with every abnormal sound he flinched, feeling sick at how she had been neglected. Finally, Sly returned with the ice. Bentley pulled an ace bandage out of the first aid kit and took a slim board that had just been laying around on the floor when they got there, and quickly went to work restraining her foot to the position that he had forced it to. Once he had it immobilized, he applied the ice to it and went back to her side.

"Sly, we have to wake her up" said Bentley.

"I've got it" Murray's voice came from the door as he walked in with a bag of stolen medicine. "I just took everything. It has to be in there somewhere."

"Good, there's something in here for the pain and swelling, too. Murray, get me some water" said Bentley as he looked through the bottles in the bag. He pulled out three of them, taking a pill or two from each one.

"Maya, wake up!" Sly shouted as he slapped her in the face.

I awoke to the sharp sting and loud shout of the raccoon that was hovering over me, trying to keep me alive. "Sly?" I asked, not sure where I was. My memory was jumbled from everything that had happened including being so ill.

"Don't speak" he said. He reached under my shoulders and moved me to a sitting position. Bentley moved forward with a handful of pills and a cup of water.

"You need to take these" said Bentley as he held them out, but I found that I couldn't move my arms. I just nodded my consent because there was no way that I could do this on my own. Sly took them from him and placed them in my open mouth before helping me take a drink from the cup of water. Bentley insisted that I drink the whole cup and then another before he would let me lay down again. I was still out of it, not knowing exactly what was going on and not being cognizant enough to understand anything anyway. All I could tell was that as I passed out of consciousness again, Sly was still by my side, holding my paw in his and I could swear that somewhere in the background Murray was crying.


	15. Chapter 14 - Recovery

_Everything was black and my senses were numb. It was like the universe had ceased to exist for a short while but then a light began to shine in the distance and I walked towards it, shielding my eyes from it as I got closer. When it seemed I was just about to reach it, the whole world transformed. I was back at the ancestral palace in the clearing where the atlas moths came at night, and there she stood before me._

"_Mom?" I asked, moving closer to get a good look at her face._

"_Maya" she spoke, the same warm and comforting voice that I remembered as a child, and then the world seemed to get bigger or I got smaller. I looked down at my paws to see a child's where mine had been. "You're growing so fast" she remarked. "You're going to be a beautiful woman someday, just wait."_

"_Mom, are you really here?" I asked. This was like waking up and my whole life had been the real dream._

"_Of course I am, Sweetie. Where else would I be?" she asked._

"_Mom!" I cried and I ran into her arms._

"_Maya" she cooed as she embraced me. It felt real – it just couldn't be a dream. "Never forget" she continued and I looked up at her face wondering what she was talking about. "Never forget who you are and who you want to be."_

"_Mom?" I asked, confused._

"_Never let anyone tell you who to be, and never be afraid" she said. She let go of me and stood, taking a few steps back. I tried to follow but my feet were suddenly stuck to the ground. "I will always be with you" she said, and then before my eyes the ground swallowed her._

"_Mom!" I cried, hearing my adult voice and realizing that I was back to normal._

"_My little girl" my father's voice came from behind me. "So strong, just like your mother. It's time for you to find your own way."_

"_Why?" I asked, still very confused at what was going on._

"_It's in your nature, as it was in your mother's" he replied. "Know that I will always be there if you need me."_

"_No!" I cried as he began to fade._

"_Even in death, I will be there" he said, his voice taking on an eerie tone._

"_Papa!" I cried._

I shot straight up into a sitting position and a headache set in very quickly because of how fast I had done so. With a paw pressed to my head I leaned back and took in my new surroundings. My vision slowly cleared and I saw that I was in a back room of what looked to be an old abandoned house. There was laughter and the sound of games coming from another room nearby. As I lowered my paw, I saw that my entire forearm was covered in a bandage and that my other forearm was the same. It took a few moments for me to piece together what had happened, and even then I wasn't completely sure what was going on.

Carefully, I slung my feet over the edge of the bed and noticed immediately that one of them was very tightly wrapped. It was painfully sore and felt swollen again, but what was even worse was when I tried to put pressure on it. Like a lightning bolt, pain shot up through my body and tears ran down my face in my attempt not to scream and alarm the others in the other room. I focused my weight onto my good leg and looked around for something to support me. Someone was thinking ahead because there was a crutch leaned up against the wall and it was just my size. I wanted to try to put weight on my foot, so I used the crutch to take the weight it couldn't handle off of it, but I wouldn't get better by sitting around. With caution, I limped out as best and as quietly as I could to see what was going on in the other room in case the people who had me now were not the Cooper gang like I thought they were. There was a short hallway leading to the other room, with a few other doors coming off of it. When I made it to the other open door and peered inside, I could see Sly, Bentley, and Murray all immersed in an old video game. I smiled at the scene and used my crutch to rest upon. Bentley was the first to turn and see me. He probably caught my movement out of the corner of his glasses in a reflection.

"Maya" he said, and he was on his feet right away to come check me.

"Maya?" Murray said, putting down his controller to look over in my direction.

"Hey boys" I said with a small wave of my hand.

"Maya…" Sly finally whispered to himself, seeming to come out of whatever trance state he was in. "Maya!" he exclaimed and rushed towards me, lifting me up off of the floor in his arms without a thought and spinning me.

"Easy there, Romeo" I said when we came to a stop. Bentley stood my crutch back up so I could take it and steady myself. "How long was I out?" I asked.

"It's been about two weeks" Bentley said. "We didn't know if you were going to make it, so it's good to see you up and walking again."

"It's good to be up and walking again" I replied.

"We should take off those bandages on your arms" Bentley said. "How does your foot feel?"

"Like hell" I said with a smile. "Maybe I should sit down."

"It would probably be a good idea" Bentley replied with a sideways glance at Sly.

"Oh" said Sly as he offered to help me.

"Thanks" I said as I handed Bentley my crutch and leaned on Sly so he could help me gimp over to the couch where Murray had scooted over to give me some room to sit. Sly sat down with me as Bentley pulled the small ottoman up in front of me so that he could sit on it while he checked my arms.

"Okay, let me see them" he said and I held my arms out in front of me.

"He's been changing the bandages three times a day" Murray said.

"Aw, I didn't know you cared so much" I said to Bentley as he began to unravel the gauze from my arm. "It's so sweet of you."

"Well, I couldn't just let you die" he replied with a deep blush covering his cheeks.

I smiled at him and there was a moment of quiet before I spoke again. "So what happened after I fell out of the picture?"

"Well," Sly started, "we managed to take out the Contessa and get the Clockwerk eyes back. The Contessa was arrested and put on trial. Neyla was promoted to the rank of captain for her good work. After that, we helped Carmelita escape from the cops because she's still out with them. Since then, we've been waiting to see if you would heal and lying low because things really heated up out there for a while."

"It's good to know that madwoman is out of commission" I said as Bentley finally finished unwrapping my arms. What remained of the wounds that had been there were a few thin scabs and newly developed scars. I noticed quickly that my fur had been shaven off, but they probably had to do it to get at the infected wounds when they took me in.

"Sorry" said Bentley. "I wish I could have gotten there sooner, then there wouldn't be as much scarring and I don't think I would have had to remove your fur."

"It's fine, really" I said, thinking back now for the first time about how close of a call I'd had with death. I lifted one arm and turned it in front of me to see the damage that was done. It was going to look weird for a while with my fur being so short. "So where are we headed next?"

"I was hoping that if you awoke you could tell us that" said Bentley.

"Well, there's only two more members of the Klaww Gang that I personally know of. One is Jean Bison, who ships spice throughout North America, and the other is Arpeggio" I said. "Bison's location is probably pretty self explanatory but I don't know where Arpeggio is hanging out right now."

Bentley was rolling my gauze into a wad when he said "I'll look into Bison, but for now you need to focus on recovering the rest of the way. Sly, once her foot is good enough to put pressure on, you should take her out and work with her to get her back on her feet. I need to start planning our next mission."

It was at least another week before I could start to put any reasonable amount of pressure on my foot at all, but after I found I could gimp around on it without the crutch my recovery started to speed up exponentially. Things had been pretty quiet around the town. It seemed as if life had moved on since the Contessa was busted and all of the mercenaries left. The newfound quiet was what gave Sly and me the chance to go out and work on my recovery. Speaking of that, it was what we were doing at that very moment as part of what became a sort of nightly routine.

Sly was just ahead of me, making sure to not get too far ahead. I was able to limp at a slow jog now and Bentley had removed the splint and exchanged it for a simple ace bandage to keep the swelling from coming back. It still hurt to put pressure on it, but not so badly that I wouldn't try.

"Come on" Sly coaxed me as we came to the edge of a rooftop.

"I don't know if it's a good idea" I said, realizing that he was going to jump off.

"I'll catch you if something happens" he said.

"Right" I said as he leapt down with ease and I prepared to follow him. I hesitated, feeling as if this jump was a lot higher than any I'd ever done before, even though I knew it wasn't even close to what I could usually do. Being injured put these things into a new perspective. There was an internal debate about whether I should close my eyes or not, and the "not" won as I took a breath and leapt.

Hitting the ground wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be, but it still hurt and caused me to stumble instead of landing properly. True to his word, Sly was right there to catch me. I clung to him as I put my foot back on the ground softly to regain my balance. "That wasn't so bad" he said and I looked up at his cocky smirk.

"Not for you" I said as I pulled away from him and tested my foot a little by putting more weight on it. The normal twinge in the back of my ankle was my foot's response to that question.

"Are you up for a few more of those?" he asked.

"I actually think I would prefer to take a swim" I replied with a grin. Even under his fur I could see him go pale. "It would be a lot better for my ankle than jumping off of rooftops."

"I think we should stick to solid ground" he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"You're the one who calls the shots, so if that's what you want that's what we'll do" I smiled.

He looked confused for a second at my lack of resistance but then he realized what he had just agreed to and face-palmed. After bringing his hand down off of his face he smiled and said, "Okay, I guess I have you give you that one because not many people can pull that on me."

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked.

"There's not a lot left to do around here" he admitted. "Ever since the commotion over the Contessa settled down, there really hasn't been anything going on. There aren't even really people on the streets. It's kind of strange."

"I'm not surprised. She and her guards were the life of this place" I said. "It's probably the same with my father's operation now."

"Maya…" Sly said, getting ready for me to slip into a state of depression, which was my newest thing since I learned the fate of my father.

When the Contessa was taken into custody, the criminals that she was holding were also taken into custody by Interpol and moved to high security prisons. Since I had woken up I found that each day my discomfort with my separation from my father got a little worse until I would go into a state of depression just from thinking about it. I never had to deal with this kind of thing before. Of course I spent time at the other Klaww Gang members' hideouts and operations and didn't see a lot of my father, but this was different now. Before I could always return home to him if I wanted to, but now we were separated by prison walls and I wouldn't even dare to visit him. The reality was slowly sinking in that I was pretty much an orphan now. Sure, my father wasn't dead, but as lost to me as he was he might as well have been.

"Hey" Sly said and shook my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"It's okay" I said. "I was just thinking."

"You know we're here for you" Sly said as he stepped where he could see my face.

"I know" I replied with a slight smile.

"Let's head back to the safe house" he said with a smile and he took the lead. I sensed a race coming on, but he knew I couldn't run very fast so he would probably take it slow and tease me the entire way back about how slow I was. He wouldn't get the best of me tonight and while he wasn't looking I kicked up a branch I saw under a nearby tree. I tested it to see how sturdy it was and when I found it to my liking I switched it to my left hand to offer that side of my body more support before smirking at the back of his head.

"Last one back is a greasy lizard!" I shouted before taking off at a full run, using the branch as a walking stick to take most of the weight off of my bad foot. I knew that my arm was going to be tired after this, but it was worth it to see the look on Sly's face as I ran past him and used my agility and the branch to pole-vault myself up onto one of the nearby rooftops. Just because I was injured didn't mean I couldn't do anything. Sure, I had to adapt my movements to accommodate my useless foot but after about 100 yards I had the whole running with a bad leg and a branch thing down and Sly's momentary shock had put him well behind me.

Each time I had to take a jump or leap up onto something, I relied on the branch and my arm strength like a third leg – one that wasn't useless at the moment. With a glance behind me I realized that Sly was gone. I either lost him or he was taking another route, but either way I felt pretty good right now. It wasn't far to the safe house and I was feeling both confident and cocky. As I reached the steps up to the door I paused to take a look behind me and found that Sly was again nowhere to be seen. I chuckled a bit to myself, slowly backing up the stairs so that I could watch for him to appear but when he didn't I was confused. Perhaps he had been injured along the way and he couldn't get back. My mind swirled around in the possibilities until a hand landed on my shoulder and scared the crap out of me. I probably leapt a foot in the air before spinning on the individual who had done that, only to find Sly behind me with a cocky grin on his face.

"That was impressive" he said. "I still beat you back, though. You're at a disadvantage because you can't run on ropes or land on small points and ledges right now. I guess you're the greasy lizard."

"Damn" I said with a smile. "I guess I am."

"That's right" he said as he put his victory face on.

"That means that you must have a thing for greasy lizards" I continued with a smile.

"Yep" he said, his bloated head preventing him from hearing what I said until after he replied. "Wait, no!"

"You said it" I smiled as I slipped past him towards the door. "Sly Cooper likes greasy lizards."

"I never said that!" he said.

"I got you twice in one night and you're upset about it" I teased as I opened the door and went inside.

"You did not!" he shouted as he burst into the safe house. Bentley and Murray were sitting on the couch looking at him like he was crazy.

"Didn't what?" asked Murray.

"Nothing…" Sly mumbled.

"Sly's just got a thing for Dimitri, that's all" I said as I walked over to the couch and sat down next to the large hippopotamus and picked up a controller to join in the game he was playing. During my down time, Murray had been teaching me to play racing games and it seemed that we both enjoyed competing with each other, even if I wasn't good enough to win yet.

"I do not" said Sly. "Quit dreaming."

"You're the one who's dreaming" I replied and I shot a smirk over my shoulder at him. "Dreaming about Dimitri."

I didn't even flinch as his breath on my neck informed me that he was now behind me. "Well, if you don't quit it" he spoke in a low growl that the others probably couldn't hear, "you're going to find out what I've really been dreaming about."

My stomach did a flip and I felt my face heat up under my fur. I crashed the car I was driving in the game. He chuckled at my response and left my side for Bentley who was typing in some information in his computer at an extremely rapid pace.

"I think Maya is ready to go" Sly said to him as he leaned on Bentley's desk.

"How do you feel about that, Maya?" asked Bentley.

I shook off the effects of Sly's little outburst and then turned to Bentley with a smile. "I think that I'll be okay" I replied. "Besides, I don't want to hold you guys back any more. I know that you're looking out for me but no matter where we are now I'll get better and if we go by Bison I might be able to ask to get to a doctor just to make sure that I'll be okay. He pulls a lot of weight up in Canada and he can probably get me in with a professional somewhere. Don't you want me to be checked out?"

"I suppose she has a point" Bentley nodded. "I may be able to patch up most things but I'm no medical professional. It would be beneficial if we could get her in to someone who can get her the help she needs without having to steal the means to get it to her."

Sly stood up from the desk and looked at Murray, who had paused our game to join in the current discussion. "Murray" he said, "Let's get the van packed up."

"Aww yeah, back on the road" said Murray.

"I'll begin finding our overseas transport" Bentley said as he went back to his computer and began typing like a maniac again.

"What should I do?" I asked, feeling as if I should really be helping out somehow.

"Just sit there and look pretty" Sly teased with a grin.

"Very funny" I replied. "But really, is there something I can do?"

"Sorry" said Murray, "We're not used to the extra help and you're still hurt so we would hate to make you do anything that might make it worse." I pouted like a child and when he saw this I could see the gears in his head start turning. Over the time I had gotten to know him I found that despite being the brawler of the group Murray wanted all of his friends to be happy. He was incredibly kind and considerate and surprisingly he didn't really want to hurt anyone. The size of his heart was definitely suited to the size of his body. "You could pack up the games and snacks" he suggested, "and then after that you could come and help me work on the van if you wanted to."

"That would be great" I said with a smile, just happy to be given a way to help out.

"Murray" I heard Sly complain.

"Oh, Sly, let her help" Murray said. "I'll make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Fine" said Sly. "I just don't want her to push it too much."

I grinned and walked over to the "kitchen" area of the room, digging around for a box behind the table before starting to pack up all of the chips and snacks that the boys kept around for their meals. Murray really did like to eat so there was quite a bit and I knew it would take me a while to get it all put away but at least now I had something to do.

It was probably an hour before I got the snacks and games packed up and loaded into the van, despite Sly's complaints that I shouldn't carry the boxes because they were too heavy for me while I was injured. After I got the last box into the van I walked over to Murray who was looking under the hood at that moment and watched what he was doing for a short time before he realized that I was there.

"Oh, hey Maya" he said. "You done with the snacks and games?"

"Yeah, I just got done" I said with a smile.

"Okay" he said. "I need you to help me out by going under the van. I would do it but I'm a little big…"

"No problem" I said. "What do you think is going on?"

Off in the main room Sly and Bentley were watching the two of us interact. "Do you really think it's a good idea to take her with us?" Bentley asked.

"We can't leave her here" Sly replied. "I know that you don't fully trust her yet but you do care if she's okay and I know that because you put a lot of effort into her while she was sick. It will be fine."

Bentley nodded as he packed up his computer and some of his supplies. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

"Don't worry about it" said Sly. "I know it's risky to take her near Bison, but I think it will be fine."

"Come on!" Murray shouted to the two of them. It hadn't taken long to fix what was wrong with the van with my help. "Are you two ready to go yet?"

"Yeah" Sly called to us and Murray opened the passenger side door.

"After you" he said with a smile.

"Thanks" I replied as I climbed into the van.

"Maya calls shotgun" Murray said as I took a seat in the front.

"Aw man!" I heard Sly shout as Murray climbed into the other side of the van and started it up with a huge, goofy smile on his face. I could tell that this was going to be an interesting trip and it would be even more interesting just staying with the Cooper Gang.


	16. Chapter 15 - If Not for the Smell

I couldn't help but feel a little nervous about going to Canada and seeing Jean Bison after everything that had happened so far. It hadn't occurred to me until now, but by joining the Cooper Gang and leaving my father behind, I had basically forfeit the Klaww Gang and although news spread slowly throughout the gang, I was sure that Bison would at least know about my father's arrest and my disappearance. He would have questions and I would need answers.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't even notice that Sly had plopped down next to me in the back of the van. I was so zoned trying to figure out what to do, what to say, that I was lost to the real world completely. "Hey" he finally said right in my ear, making me leap out of my skin in panic and surprise. "Calm down, it's just me" he said while putting his hands on my shoulders to keep me from practically hitting the ceiling of the van. "You were lost to the world for a little while there. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I tried to calm myself, slow my heart rate, as I looked into the eyes of the mischievous raccoon. "Sorry" I finally got out, moving my gaze to my lap. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" asked Sly, as if it wasn't obvious. "You've been pretty jumpy and nervous since we got back on land. Is there something you want to talk about?"

"I just don't know what I'm going to say to Bison, that's all" I said with a frown as I looked completely away from him.

"That's all?" he asked with a chuckle. "Here I thought we were in big trouble."

"Well, he's going to want to know how I got to Canada and what happened to me. He'll probably want to know why I'm hurt and want to take me in. Maybe this wasn't a good idea" I replied as I leaned my head on the inside of the van.

"Hey" Sly repeated as he reached over and grabbed my arm, pulling me so that my head was on his shoulder instead of the uncomfortable metal that made up the inside wall of the van. "We'll figure something out. You don't have to tell him the truth and we have plenty of time before we get there."

"Bentley, how far are we from Nunavut Bay?" I called up to the front seat.

"It's still about four hours out" he replied.

"Four hours isn't a lot of time!" I said as I looked at Sly like he was crazy.

"Calm down" he said as he squeezed me a little. "Maybe it's not a lot of time when you're panicking your fur off" he teased.

"What do you suggest I do?" I asked him, seeing as he was suddenly a wise man of some kind.

"Well, first off stop panicking" he said. "And why don't you tell Bison that you escaped when you and your father were being transferred from the Contessa's prison to the Interpol prison and you couldn't get him out in time to get away so you went on your own and Bison's place in Canada was the only place you thought of right away where you would be safe. You got injured escaping so you need a doctor because your own patch job didn't do as well as a doctor could and you want to heal properly. You need a place to stay and would like a place of your own. Somewhere quiet on the outskirts of town because noise still bothers you like you have post-traumatic stress syndrome. Then we'll use the place he gives you as our safehouse while we're there."

"Sly…" I said as I closed my eyes and it sounded like I was irritated by his suggestion.

"Yes?" he asked, despite what he heard.

"Why didn't I just ask you in the first place…" I said with a sigh. His suggestion was actually really good. I hadn't thought of anything like that because I was too busy panicking about every little thing that could happen.

"Why don't you rest?" Sly asked, feeling as if the problem had been solved for now. I had to admit it was a good idea, just like his others. It had been a long day and there was no better way to make the rest of the time pass. "I'll wake you when we get there and you can work with us on the action plan before anyone goes out for any reason."

"Okay" I nodded, exhaustion suddenly and unexpectedly taking over my body. It was probably just my brain getting payback for all the use I had been forcing out of it for the entirety of the trip. I laid my head back on Sly's shoulder, which was now feeling overly comfortable because of the groggy haze that had come over me, and sleep took me.

"Wake up" Sly's voice reached into my sleep and pulled me out. "We're here" he smiled.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're in the woods just outside of the town. We were just about to talk about what's going to happen next" he said with a smile.

"I'm up" I groaned and I stretched myself out before allowing Sly to drag me over to the group, which was only a few feet away but was still more moving than I wanted to do. My ankle was stiff and my arms were sore, as they sometimes were when I woke up.

"So" Bentley began, "Before we can do anything we need to do some reconnaissance. Maya, I assume you know these grounds. Do you know where Bison would be keeping all of his records and files?"

"Probably in his main cabin" I replied. "It's the one that he lives in while he's in town, and all the information goes straight there before anywhere else."

"Do you think that you can get Sly in?" Bentley asked.

"Have any of you seen Bison since we got here?" I asked.

"No" said Bentley. "We were hoping you might know."

"Well, if he's not out and about he's in that cabin. If he's there, it will be tricky to get the information you need without him trampling Sly into raccoon jam and then coming after the other two of you for some hippo and turtle soup" I replied. "I won't be able to walk Sly in. There's a chance that the gang's been communicating on the recent events because the Clockwerk parts are important to the group as a whole. Bison probably knows that he should at least be on the lookout for a raccoon, even if he doesn't know exactly who you are. Now, we already talked about getting me some medical attention. If I limp out of the woods and go to one of his men, they'll know me and take me straight to him. That would fit in well with the story that Sly thought up for how I got here. When they take me to Bison, Sly could follow in the shadows and then sneak into the cabin after I've been taken in. With me on the inside already, I can distract Bison from wherever Sly is or even get him out of the cabin altogether so Sly has a chance to get the information that you guys need. While Sly's doing that, I'll ask Bison for a place of my own, but you'll have to move the van in after nightfall if you don't want to get caught. Don't worry about it being a small place. Bison always spoils me when I come here."

"Sly?" asked Bentley.

"It sounds like a plan" said Sly. "Will the two of you be okay here until nightfall?"

"It'll be no problem" Murray replied.

"It will probably be a while before I can join you three again but I'll try to get back to you somehow on where we'll be staying" I said.

"I'll set you up with a tracker and a headset" Bentley replied. "That way we know where you are and you can simply radio in and let us know what's going on."

"So we're all ready, then" Sly said with a smile.

"Just let me get Maya's equipment and then we will be" Bentley replied, going for a supply bin in the back of the van that contained the more mission-oriented tech. While he dug, I went to a box that was now completely mine. Knowing that we were going to somewhere cold, the gang had all pitched in to get me a proper outfit for going out into the harsher weather. They hadn't asked what I wanted and amazingly they seemed to know my sizes but I had a feeling that Sly had something to do with that. The outfit they got me consisted of a pair of fitted brown pants lined with thinsulate to keep me warm and a navy blue turtleneck. Over that they found a fur lined jacket the same color as the pants, hooded, and a matching pair of fur lined boots and mittens. I was eternally grateful for the gift, knowing that all of my cold weather gear was now somewhere underwater in a temple in India. For now, I would just wear the jacket because being completely outfitted would be suspicious if I was supposedly roughing it just to get to the town.

Bentley got me geared up, commenting that the jacket made an excellent hiding place for my equipment, and then I pulled the hood over my head and turned to the boys. "Wish me luck. I don't know how good I am at acting" I said.

"Don't worry" Sly said. "If anything goes wrong, I'll be right there."

I nodded and Sly helped me out of the van. In the distance I could hear the trains and the bustle of Bison's small outpost in the wilderness. It was now or never.

I hadn't realized that it was a five minute walk to the town. It seemed much shorter considering how loud everything sounded, but then again I hadn't used my hearing much and maybe I had just been overly sensitive when I set off. Taking on a harsher limp for acting's sake, I broke dramatically out of the frozen bushes near the edge of the forest and caught the attention of three different guards in the process.

"Who goes there?!" one of them yelled as they came running for me. I stumbled over-dramatically and face-planted in the snow (and I would never admit that I had actually tripped.) One of the guards reached me and flipped me over harshly to see my face, but then reeled back and took on an air of respect as soon as he recognized me.

"Who is it?" the next guard shouted, a moose. The first had been a duck.

"It's the daughter of Rajan, Lady Mirage!" the duck replied as the moose approached.

"Don't just stand there, help her up!" shouted the moose. A second duck was the third on the scene and he immediately jumped in to help. Together, they hefted me to my feet and noticed immediately that I was hurt.

"She's injured" the moose observed. "We should take her to Bison immediately so he can get her some help."

The cabin that I knew so well was still unfortunately far away from where the gang had parked the van but when the guards noticed that I was having trouble walking, one of them picked me up and carried me without a complaint or a second thought. Bison may have called it the "wild North" but at least the people still had some manners when handling a lady. I caught a couple glimpses of Sly behind us, trailing after but never getting too close. With the guards carrying me, it was only a few minutes before we were on Bison's doorstep and they let me down onto my own two feet again. One of the guards knocked.

"What?" I heard Bison's gruff voice from the other side of the door.

"Mister Bison, Lady Mirage just came stumbling out of the woods and we brought her up. Should we let her in?" the guard said, showing that he was more dim-witted than chivalrous.

"What kind of question is that?" Bison said as he threw open the door and looked at me. "Come inside. The rest of you get back to your posts."

"Yes Sir!" they said and ran off.

"You're hurt. I can smell it" Jean said to me and I nodded.

"My ankle is severely sprained" I replied.

"Come on, get out of the cold" he said as he stepped aside and I limped in. "How did you get here? What happened to yer father?"

"My father and I were captured by the Contessa, I'm sure you heard" I said and he gave an absent minded nod.

"I heard" he said. "I was worried about you. Half of the Klaww Gang has been put away now and Arpeggio says that it's this Cooper Gang who's doin' it. C'mon, sit. You owe me a story and I'm going to call a doctor for that ankle of yours."

When I finally related the tale that Sly had helped me make up, about an hour had gone by. While Bison had been at the phone getting a doctor, Sly made his way into the cabin and I spent the next twenty minutes fearing that I would screw up and he would get caught. He was taking pictures in plain sight, just not in Bison's line of sight, and I just kept babbling on to keep Bison's attention while Sly did his thing. After taking some pictures, Sly leapt over onto the mantle and stole a print out of the bass that was mounted above it. He gave me a wink and a thumbs-up before heading through the rafters to get out of the cabin and go do his thieving thing.

The doctor that Jean called in was very good and very quick at his job. He explained to me that the pain probably would never go away completely but that from his training he could tell that I was still healing and would need more time before I would be back to full function. After giving me a real ankle brace to help me walk and handing me a bottle of pain medication, the doctor made his way out of the cabin and Jean turned to me.

"I'm glad to see that yer alive" he said. "I'm not surprised you escaped. You always were a slippery little devil."

"A trait that came in handy" I smiled. "So… right now I don't really have anyone else to go to. My father is gone and I have no idea where Arpeggio is right now. I was hoping that I could stay here until I literally can get back on my feet."

"You want a place to stay, huh?" he replied with a half grin. "Well, that can be arranged."

"Someplace quiet, please" I said. "It's been hard to have too much noise going on around me since everything that happened. I'm still a bit jumpy and I can't sleep."

"There's an abandoned old fishing shop down by the water. Hasn't been used in years and the fish smell has been out of it for a few more. Should be quiet enough and it's actually a mighty fine piece of housing if I do say so myself, but I just never found a good use for it. You can use it for now" he replied.

"Thank you" I smiled. It sounded like the perfect place to put the gang for now. "May I go there now?"

"You can do anything you please, Little Lady, you're a guest here. The guards know who ya are so if they give you any trouble you just come straight ta me" he said.

"Of course" I said, liking this new royal treatment. I had forgotten how nice it could be to come to Jean Bison's place, even if it did smell horrible.

"I'll have one of the boys show you down to your place" he said. "It's gettin' dark and I'd hate to have you attacked by a bear while you're heading down that way."

"Okay" I said and I stood, testing my foot which felt much better in a proper medical brace.

It wasn't long before the guards had shown me down to what was actually a nice little shack on the docks by the fishing boats. Just as Bison said, it was abandoned but still in good shape. It was probably abandoned around the same time that spice shipments really picked up. There was no need for fishing when there was spice raking in the dough. After dismissing the guards I took a look around inside. There was plenty of space, a room for each of us, and even a place out back to park the van where no one would spot it, and a bathroom. In the corner of the main room was a little woodstove which I took no time at all lighting to try to get some heat into the building.

"Bentley, do you have my location?" I asked through my headset, making the first communication in a while with the boys.

"Yes. I've been tracking you on GPS satellite" he replied.

"Good, I'm in our new place right now. As soon as it's clear you guys can head on over. Tell Murray to park the van out back, there's a space for it right in the building" I relayed.

"Will do" Bentley replied and I set to dusting a few things off with my tail. It actually wasn't all that dirty, like Bison kept thinking of uses for it and having it cleaned only to change his mind at the last minute.

It wasn't long before it was dark enough for the gang to drive the van over and park themselves in what would be our temporary home. They took no time in setting up their things but it was getting late and it looked like it didn't matter what time of day we operated in. Bentley explained to me that they had stolen the blueprints to the trains and gotten pictures of the routes and that the trains were made to run all day and all night non-stop so they would be able to do their thieving at any time of day and it wouldn't matter too much. Bison kept pretty steady guards on duty all of the time so I agreed that time of day wouldn't change anything. With that agreement, we each picked a room and set up some bedding. The boys were gracious enough to give me the room closest to the main one and the woodstove because Bentley pointed out that I was still recovering and should be kept warm because I wouldn't want a cold now.

As I curled up to sleep, I found that I was still very cold and miserable despite the ideal conditions for this situation. I shivered a bit and tossed and turned, trying to find a way to get warmer than I already was. The woodstove was working its magic but it had a long way to go to heat up the whole building and I was tired. Restlessly I shifted and lay with my back to the door. It wasn't but a few moments later that someone entered the room and lay down by my side. I knew who it was, and he wrapped his arms around me transferring his body heat to mine.

"Get some sleep" he whispered in my ear.

I gave a groan in response and flipped over so I could tuck my head into his strong chest.

"Goodnight, Maya" I heard him whisper and I felt him place a soft kiss on the top of my head before I drifted off.


End file.
